Fourth Wing, Rebecca Yarros

Wing,by

Rebecca Yarros

fantasy, 2023

a school for dragon riders. so far so good.

To be sure the graduates are as tough as possible the school... and the students... are set up to kill each other.

Strange idea, I don't like it  but, well, the book is fantasy.

I read half and give up -- there are too many characters for me. I always lose track. In this book it's annoying when a "new" character appears and I am not sure: are they nice or nasty?

I re-start reading from the start. Remembering characters. The book is a lot more enjoyable

... until there is one more pointless death.

Too miserable, I think. And give up reading.

http://notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com
dying for you to read it :-)
...ranting  http://my3rs.blogspot.com

brain fading, typing blind
if this email is nonsense, pls guess or ask
ndependent Consulting dexitroboper



   

ministry of time, Kaliane Bradley

ministry of time, 

byKaliane Bradley

science fiction

2024

rated 3/10: bad but could be read

I've read 30 pages of 350.

so far, it is boring.

a very clever way to present and explore societal and technological changes as history progresses.

clever and... very... very slow.

so far, it' s tedious.

th the hero does seem heroic.it could be fun to follow his progress.

the heroine... well...it'too soon... we barely know her.perhaps the romance will be fun? I'll never know now.

http://notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com

dying for you to read it :-)
...ranting  http://my3rs.blogspot.com

brain fading, typing blind
if this email is nonsense, pls guess or ask
ndependent Consulting dexitroboper



   

whalefall, Daniel Kraus

rated 3/10: so bad it's embarrassing

science fiction about a man swallowed by a whale. sounds like fun:-) I should have checked the front cover...

new york times loved it...

I read one page. try a few more pages. 

read the cover blurb...

the book is about a young man who has relationship issues. with dead father, mother, sisters. 

the whale is probably irrelevant. 

the book starts off... boringly significant. 

as far as I can tell

... it gets worse. 

I very Quickly stop reading. 

meaningful rubbish. with a whale. 

If all else fails -- get a bigger hammer


===

http://notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com
dying for you to read it :-)

===

Dr Nick Lethbridge
Consulting Dexitroboper

   

Too Deep, Andrew Child

Too Deep

(Jack Reacher)

by Andrew Child

rated 6/10

the first book by the brother.

very complex plot. takes a while to understand the scam. then it gets more complex. 

the violence is a bit gory. 

too much exposition rather than showing how tough teacher is. 

satisfying ending. 

good, but not as good as the others I've read

If all else fails -- get a bigger hammer


===

http://notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com
dying for you to read it :-)

===

Dr Nick Lethbridge
Consulting Dexitroboper

   

Games of Command, Linnea Sinclair

Games of Command

(continuing)

by Linnea Sinclair

science fiction, romance

rated 4/10: bad but could be read

i agree with the reviewer who hopes that the shy hero gets the girl.

i think he will, because she plans to rip his clothes off him and have wild sex with him. 

so why is this book "bad"?

first, it is packed with characters and incidents which must be from previous books. some of these need better explanation. 

the main problem is with mind control and mental control of reality. 

it is possible that key characters are only thinking as they have been programmed to think.

is the shy hero in love... or is that just programming? 

is the entire planet a creation of alien creatures who use mental powers to control reality?  probably. 

all, that's okay with me... but misunderstood and denied by the characters...

they may all suddenly disappear into unreality. 

I need some clarity. 

I stop reading. 

If all else fails -- get a bigger hammer


===

http://notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com
dying for you to read it :-)

===

Dr Nick Lethbridge
Consulting Dexitroboper

   

Wattle, Odette Brown

Wattle, by

Odette Brown

short story

and that is the end of that

Last year I wrote stories for the daily paper's short story "yarn" competition.

no expectation of winning, perhaps a wild hope of being noticed.

i deliberately wrote stories that *I* would enjoy reading.

Today i read a"yarn" winner. the author complains about the difficulty of a writer gaining recognition, or publication. so far so good, i can agree.

now i can also understand.

here's a comparison:

Another winning yarn is about an old woman, the author's granmother, smoking and dying and complaining in lonely misery.

there's a Jack Reacher book that begins with a teenager's mother dying of terminal something. the mother is a drunken, lonely, alcoholic drug addict.

the jack reacher book then develops as expected. with several "nice" people dying unpleasantly and fifty or more nasty people dying very ... satisfactorily.

but here's the thing:

in that one introductory death of mother, the jack reacher book packs in more ... positive affirmation... mother-child love and loyalty

... more hope... than in the yarn which dedicates itself to just one death.

truth to tell

... the yarn mother may not even have died.

the story was so "meaningful"

... so packed with "significance?"

... that I may have misunderstood.

not to worry. it's in the bin now.

and next year i shall write stories for my own enjoyment.

with no "yarns"

####

Oh, and btw:

This post will go to reviews -- and to rants

I tried to use the Google Blogger app to update the original post.

By the time I had successfully (I hope) updated -- the app had deleted, discarded, drafted, lost... the original post.

Time to uninstall that app.

And this update is done on the PC. Where what you see is, quite often, what you get.

###

Dr Nick Lethbridge / Independent Dexitroboper

you cannot back into the future

===

..: notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com

Lord Tedric

(#3 of ?)

by EE Doc Smith

Space opera

From the 1930s?

 Rated 4/10: bad but could be read

I've enjoyed lensmen and skylark series, never heard of Tedric before.

All the signs of Doc Smith's enormous imagination.

Too enormous.. missing the first books, this series misses too much to really enjoy. 

The hero, a very human, very intelligent, very physical barbarian, flits across universes, thanks to his work for the God-like Scientists.

Various other characters, robot and alien, prove their essential niceness by... learning to love.

No, it's not tedious... just space opera silly.

This may be one of the very few books that I can bear to bin.

Maybe... maybe tomorrow :-)

half blind. half deaf. dying of cancer.
so what?

http://notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com
dying for you to read it :-)


http://my3rs.blogspot.com/

Dr Nick Lethbridge
Consulting Dexitroboper

   

Patatas Fritas Bonilla

Bonilla a la vista

De la familia Bonilla...

It's a packet of sea salt chips

Cooked in olive oil.

Made in Spain, 

Arteixo? Or coruna?for sale in Spain but imported to Australia.

As far as I can tell :-)

And very hard to review!

The packet is all in Spanish... ingredients are easy but, is that the name of a company? Hmm... yes, third generation of... guessing...

What is even harder is... to stop google auto-correcting back to similar words in English.

Rated 8/10

I'm fairly certain that there is no bouillabaisse in the packet :-)

The chips are fine cut, light salt. No trace at all of the too strong flavour that overrides all else on smith's chips.

I suspect that any olive oil flavour is pure imagination.

Delicious, crisp, light, light flavour potato chips.

half blind. half deaf. dying of cancer.
so what?
notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com :-)

Dr Nick Lethbridge
Consulting Dexitroboper

   

The Selkie Scandal, Rosalie Oaks

The Selkie Scandal

Lady jewel diviner

Prequel one

by, Rosalie Oaks

Fantasy,

Copyright 2021,

Read in November 2024

Rated 6/10: read to pass the time

I'm worried, it seems to be a bit... silly.

In the series, one book is about various people being naked and or shocked by it.

Another is about people having sex and or being shocked by it.

This book seems to be about various people wanting or offering nudity and or sex, other people being shocked.

Then it reaches the essential plot and settles down.

The story is complex enough, well plotted.

, enjoyable.

With conflict settled in a pleasant, simplistic way.

This prequel explains a key point from book one.

It also provides a much wider explanation of the various sea-based characters. The "facts" behind the myths.

There's a lot to cover, it's done well. Not as a history lesson but through likeable, and less likeable characters.

Oh... and more myth-building around the plum jam:-)

Yep:-)

A silly... enjoyable... unique? Idea

half blind. half deaf. dying of cancer.
so what?
notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com :-)

Dr Nick Lethbridge
Consulting Dexitroboper

   

The Skeleton House, Katherine Allum

The Skeleton House

by Katherine Allum

horror

Copyright 2024

Part-read in October 2024

Rated 7/10: well worth reading

but for me: 4/10: bad but could be read. Except that I choose... to not read it.

An excellent choice for, book club discussion :-)

It's funny. I've barely started reading and... I don't like it.

Not the book itself, but ... the story. It is such an unpleasant story. I may stop reading.

This says a lot about me. About my mood. About, why do I read?

I'm reading the book in chunks, stopping and starting (I have other things to do)

This also means that I am building my appreciation of, my understanding of the book in chunks.

As I read more... I may change my mind.

But now...

Okay. I really would like to read it all. But... 

The plot, the theme, depress me.

Time to bite the bullet. I read for enjoyment. For escapism. This book offers neither.

So, from one third read: my review.

The book is nicely written. Is this literary fiction? Lots of references to Good Lit, some used to build an understanding, by comparison, to this book.

Well drawn characters. I am quickly drawn to sympathise with the main character. Though I disagree with her ... too sweet and caring... approach to child-rearing.

Except, of course, that her approach offers a contrast to the brutality, largely mental, of others.

There are characters who offer, just by their presence, support. All very well-written, well presented.  Nicely written. Cleverly written...

The style is clever. far too clever for a mainstream novel. Perhaps that is deliberate. A "literary" novel? Anyway...

It's almost stream of consciousness. Following the consciousness, the memories, of how the main character reached... wherever is the here and now.

It's easy to read but difficult to follow. Especially when new characters and situations appear in the heroine's memory.

Okay, I'll call her the heroine.

Main character? Protagonist, victim... heroine? we'll see (or not)

Whatever she is -- the book drives me to feel an awful lot of sympathy for her.

Because, yes, she suffers. She needs -- and she deserves -- sympathy. That, is an enormous power of the book.

And why I'm going to stop reading :-)

But:

One key character is, Neeley.

Absolutely central... to the heroine, if not to the plot.

Yet he feels tacked on.

Reading the author's own story, Neeley may well have been tacked on to the half-written work. Neeley needs to be firmly -- much earlier -- given a clear place in the community of the novel.

And speaking of the community:

What a load of absolute creeps. Narrow-minded, dogmatic, ignorant, controlling, creeps.

And that, I think, is the theme of this novel:

Coercive control. A very current theme.

Coercive control: control of the individual...

By the partner. The family. by the community, by the cult.

The book may be an attack on Mormons. Or an attack on the way in which an individual is coerced by individuals, by family, by friends, by community... by their own beliefs that they are trapped.

I'm not sure.

But... at whatever level... the coercion ... and control... is awful.

But horror?

Yes.

For a short time I hoped that the control would involve supernatural monsters. I have given up hope: The evil is entirely human.

Early on, a death is forecast.

Reading on, I have no idea who could die (or, more likely, be killed.

Thinking of the cast of characters... there are half-a-dozen that I would gladly see die. Any... or all of them. Unfortunately it does not seem likely.

And a string of deaths will still leave the heroine needing at least a chapter...

to escape the clutches of the evil community in which she is trapped.

A very well-written, very involving... book.

An excellent book for those who like to understand... to wallow in... the suffering of others.

I do not.

Early notes:

It's showing some good potential. Depending on where it goes.

It's the characters, their attitudes. I feel that I could very easily dislike the lot of them. Which will make for very difficult enjoyment of whatever does happen.

Really I only mention it because -- the dislike is so very strong. And personal.

The mother is so cutesy, so nice to the children. Like Hi-5 which talks down to the kids vs PlaySchool which talks and plays ... *with* the children.

Then we meet more of the family and social group.

I get the feeling of paternal control and... Stepford Wives.

All of this goes against my natural preferences for behaviour. Which makes me very uncomfortable.

But which also makes me hope for a nasty, enjoyable, horror story, with one sympathetic character and all sorts of awful threats against the far-too-cute children.

Which must make this a good start to the book: I am already viscerally involved :-)

=== now to read on:

at various reading times:

the OZ link just does not work

it feels tacked on.

if it is essential -- attach it firmly -- very early -- to allow it to be explained

Hours later...

I'm reading this book in chunks. So may as well document my opinions as they. develop. and, probably, re-develop.

Yes... "horror"? I suspect a slow build-up to horror. Whether physical or psychological... not yet known. But to me... already very horrid.

The author is MA.

This allows them to reference literary "giants" as a quick way to define some character traits, possibly even situations.

Unfortunately it is of little help to us non-MA readers.

Given time, practice and an already good (if negative) understanding of humanity, I suspect that this author will be writing good books which will appeal even more to mass readers... without forcing us to Wikipedia to understand, what on earth the author is on about :-)

half blind. half deaf. dying of cancer.
so what?
notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com :-)

Dr Nick Lethbridge
Consulting Dexitroboper 

   

Kairos, Jenny Erpenbeck

Kairos

by Jenny Erpenbeck

Fiction, romance... historical allegory !?

Copyright 2023

Started and still reading, October 2024

Rated so far,  6/10: read to pass the time.

Then re-rated to 4/10: bad but could be read.

Could be read because the writing style is simple. Though for various reasons, difficult to understand. Perhaps like, Dick and Jane analyse Shakespeare.

20oct24:

Here is a very quick opinion:

The cover says that this is a book of love and betrayal.

So far I've read maybe a third. The love is fun though weird.

And yet... *if* the betrayal is disappointing... or as bleeding obvious as my current guess: then the book is a waste of time, which I will never finish.

For now, I read and review. I hope add a footnote when I know more.

So.

The book reads like a poem, or a dream. This suits my mood, I am reading while half asleep. So far, I'm enjoying the book.

Yet it is confusing. He did, she did, sometimes hard to follow... yet interesting and enjoyable.

Then there are the assumptions of knowledge.

I suspect that characters may be involved in dangerous, revolutionary organisations... but I'm not sure. I just do not have the background knowledge which is assumed by the author.

Then I realise a bigger problem:

This book is written for, or at least about, intelligentsia living in Germany between WW2 and the fall of the Berlin Wall. Very difficult for an Aussie to *identify* with the people, the places --or the political situation which is very important to the book.

My understanding of the situation is based on living through the era but well outside Europe.  Of disinterested reading of Aus papers of the time.

My knowledge of the intelligentsia is from a few chapters of a horror/fantasy book with a similar setting :-)

It is very difficult for me -- still not interested in learning about an important era of German history, difficult for me to identify with this book.

In fact... it was a huge relief when the heroine walked across the Chain Bridge in Budapest! I too have walked across (and been impressed by) that bridge :-)

Still, it's an easy-to-read book. Especially when I'm  falling sleep. I'm quite enjoying the silly romance.

And I really really want to reach, the betrayal.

The nature of that betrayal will... I suspect... fix my entire opinion of this book.

====

25 oct 24:

I take a break from reading. I mean, it's easy to read, though difficult to understand. It's a book for drifting, not at all gripping.

But I really do want to reach the end. Or at least reach the betrayal. So today, I start again.

And guess what? A German book with a kid stacking dead bodies in a WW2 Concentration Camp.

There's a word which means: when someone compares the situation to Nazi Germany -- further discussion is pointless. And must be ended.

I stop reading. 

Skim quickly, to discover the betrayal. As far as I can tell, it's all in the Epilogue. But before that...

The love seems to be suffering. In a deeply meaningful, to the characters, way.

Germany is rebuilding from East and West into one nation. Massive unemployment, massive changes, massive impact on history... possibly of interest if you are at all interested in raking over relatively recent German history. I'm not.

And so to the Epilogue. And the "betrayal". 

Which, blow me... is almost identical to what I have expected from page one.

Only two surprises:

(1) The betrayer has a life-long history of betrayal.

(2) Love and betrayal revolves round two lovers. Yet the betrayal is "aimed" -- at a third, not in the affair, person. I guess that's an interesting twist: a couple caught up in a situation that is none of their own personal concern.

I re-rate the book from six /10 down to four.

 

half blind. half deaf. dying of cancer.
so what?
notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com :-)

Dr Nick Lethbridge
Consulting Dexitroboper

   

Silo, Hugh Howey

Silo,  aka Wool

(#1of 4?)

by Hugh Howey

science fiction

copyright 2013

not read in 2024

rated 4/10: bad but could be read

You know how it is. you start reading a book. get involved with the characters. wonder about the world. wonder how the main character will advance our understanding of the world. we read in hope and wonder and expectation.

except with this book. there is a woman who is beginning to understand then she dies.

her husband is thick but begins to wonder. then he dies.

all of a sudden i have no engagement with this book. no interest in reading more.

forget it.

Nick Lethbridge    /    Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting    /   Problems? Solved.
   ===


Happiness is wanting what you already have
   

The Moria Pearls, Rosalie Oaks

The Moria Pearls

(Lady Diviner #2)

by Rosalie Oaks

copyright 2021

read in September 2024

fantasy, romance, mystery

rated 7/10: well worth reading

A pleasant book, sort of Pride & Prejudice for modern sensibilities. Meaning...

Book one impressed me by the number of naked and near-naked people on the final pages.

This book ends with many couples having, having had, or considering having sex. But all quite politely.

My rating would be six, read to pass the time -- plus one because the mystery is well done. Twists and turns, red herrings. Accusations and suspicions. Plus threats of violence. All well presented with hints and clues which, as usual, I failed to interpret :-)

My only complaint is the growing number of as-yet-unconsummated pairings. Argh, it's a series.

Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper

===

We know that the nature of genius is to provide idiots with ideas twenty years later... Louis Aragon

..Dying for you to Read my blog: notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com

bains wholefood chickpea chips

bains wholefood chickpea chips

rated 7/10

The flavour is standard salt and cheese, quite nice.

the chip itself is chickpea, yellow pea, rice plus flavouring. all, i guess, ground to a paste then fried, smaller than potato chips.

I suspect that potato chips are also ground to a paste then reshaped for cooking but... I hope i may be wrong.

the texture is more solid than potato chips (crisps). The flavour is different but pleasant.

After eating them my fingers (and mouth) do *not* have the greasy feel nor the indelible stink of smiths chips.

Nick Lethbridge    /    Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting    /   Problems? Solved.
   ===


Happiness is wanting what you already have
   

A Choice of Gods, Clifford D Simak

A Choice of Gods

by Clifford D Simak

commentary

copyright 1977

read in August 2024

rated 4/10: bad but could be read

I have this special category of "commentary": author's opinion, perhaps mixed in with fiction.

This book seems to be the author's opinion: how sweet it would be if 99% of the world's people disappeared. Oh yes, and if the remaining 1% gained eternal life, perfect health, teleportation and  telepathy.

Having set the scene he then bores the reader to tears with a combination of religious and spiritual nonsense and lack of clarity.

Just one example of stupidity: A survivor decides that the remaining 1% should have a record of what happens. One day he writes, nothing has happened. Except that his wife is exchanging news with friends. Not worth adding the wife's news to the journal, it's just "woman's talk".

So... probably not worth mentioning the births, deaths and marriages of the remaining population of Earth. Even the patriarchal Bible recognises the importance of begatting to the human race.

The book is rubbish.

Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper

===

We know that the nature of genius is to provide idiots with ideas twenty years later... Louis Aragon

..Dying for you to Read my blog: notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com

The Lady Jewel Diviner, Rosalie Oaks

The Lady Jewel Diviner, 

(Lady Jewel Diviner #1)

by Rosalie Oaks

fantasy

copyright 2021

read in July 2024

rated 7/10: well worth reading

This is a delightful book -- a challenging mystery with some excitement. The excitement is mild but enjoyable. As I read I was thinking... this is all very straightforward... but far more clever than anything that I could write. 

With charming characters, some of whom are likeable stereotypes: almost Pride & Prejudice but with humour and some modern sensibilities.

Every character is so politely embarrassed by nudity -- until it becomes essential to the plot.

There are some questions. Does a vampiri have predatory powers such as hypnotism. Why was strength not mentioned before it was needed. Oh, I don't know... I enjoyed the book and so wanted more explanation.

A lot of fun, well worth reading.

Nick Lethbridge    /    Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting    /   Problems? Solved.
   ===


Happiness is wanting what you already have
   

Chronux, Sagar Kamath

Chronux

by Sagar Kamath

fantasy

copyright 2017

part read in August 2024

rated 5/10 readable but only if there's nothing else

Back in the days when the Beatles were going mystic there was a rich and powerful swami. He lived in luxury, travelled the world, was driven in multiple Rolls Royces. His followers supported him with all of their money, their services, their devotion.

The swami spent his days talking to his disciples. His words were pearls of wisdom. Laced with wonder and hilarious gems. That's according to the brain-washed members of his cult.

To anyone else the swami's words were the incoherent ramblings of a spaced-out idiot.

Chronux is a bit like that swami: to believers it may make sense, there may be a world-shattering message of truth.

Not to me.

The logic of the story makes sense: two best friends become bitter enemies and destroy the world (I think) On their way they visit a series of nasty wars. Some are seen from an anti-American perspective, others are just violent. As far as I can tell, Chronux is a time-controlling monster who wants to trick someone else into taking over his role. There also seems to be some sort of peace-loving swami-style message.

To me, the book is nonsense. Perhaps to the convert  it is the wisdom of the ages.

Nick Lethbridge    /    Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting    /   Problems? Solved.
   ===


Happiness is wanting what you already have
   

Real Naturals Mushroom Chips

I'm an impulse buyer

On impulse, in Coles,I picked up a small, 32g packet of...

Real Naturals Mushroom Chips

rated 7/10: pleasant with NO unpleasant aftereffects

Eating standard (eg Smiths) potato chips / crisps provides several things:

... a lot of salt

... a yearning for more (largely due to the salt)

... A strong and unpleasant smell on the fingers and lips, that's from the flavour powder that coats the chips. It must include fat because the smell is very hard to wash off

... a slightly greasy feel on the fingers, from picking up the chips.

The main ingredient of the mushroom chips is tapioca starch (standing in for the potato).

flavour comes from shiitake mushrooms, plus the usual sugar, salt, onion etc. No chemicals with complex names.

The chips provide several things:

... not too much salt, no yearning for more. A slight leftover flavour in the mouth

...Not much leftover smell, none at all after washing hands. The packet does say, No palm oil, perhaps that allows the flavours to be water soluble.

... interesting flavour.

If you like the mushroom flavour, these are much better than Smiths potato chips

Nick Lethbridge    /    Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting    /   Problems? Solved.
   ===


Happiness is wanting what you already have
   

Five Broken Blades, Mai Corland

Five Broken Blades, Mai Corland

(aka Meredith Ireland, author of subadult books)

fantasy

copyright 2024

read July 2024

rated 2/10: unreadably bad

Do not read this book.

I've had another look at the book. As far as I can see -- there is no hint that this story is "to be continued".

Half a page of trigger warnings -- but no warning that this is not a complete book.

In the final few pages: the assassination fails. It was all a trick set up by King Joon.Aeri is the King's daughter. The Five are forced, by Joon, to go and steal the golden ring from Euyn's evil sister. It seems to be an impossible mission, They are given just five weeks -- or, one more book.

And that book is due to be published in January 2025. I doubt that it will conclude anything.

What a crock.

Oh, yes, I seem to have provided some unannounced spoilers. So what. It's a rip-off by the publishers, readers are already cheated, what's a few more spoilers.

So... Ty and Sora grow to love each other and successfully have sex, despite her poisons. Ty ends the book in the dungeons. Aeri and Royo are in love, Joon disapproves. Mikhail and Euyn have always been in loveEuyn is illegitimate so not a real member of the royal dynasty. Mikhail's beloved foster father  is held hostage by Joon. Oh, and no-one else seems to know that Aeri is a successful thief because she has a magic trinket which allows her to stop time for everyone else.

Do not read this book. Which is a pity -- with an honest publisher I would have rated it nine. As it is, this book is *&%$# annoying.

Unreadable.

Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper

===

We know that the nature of genius is to provide idiots with ideas twenty years later... Louis Aragon

..Dying for you to Read my blog: notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com

Yellowface, Rebecca A F Kuang

ellowface

by Rebecca A F Kuang

horror

copyright 2023

part read July 2024

rated 4/10: bad but could be read

First, that rating: The book is well-written. Just so unpleasant that I could not, or would not, read it.

It starts with a death. Not a problem, the death is advertised on the cover and that death then drives the entire plot.

I was expecting a quick death off screen. Instead, it's a particularly nasty and slow death. Perhaps that's necessary for the plot. What I know is, I read on but was not enjoying it.

Then the plot thickens and the main character does something nasty. To someone who does not deserve it. Absolutely unforgiveable. My feelings shifted from, not enjoying to actively disliking. I skimmed over  most of the book. Even skimming, it was unpleasant. highlighting the nastiness of the world.

I read enough of the final chapters to find out who dun it. Not that it helped, I had skipped over any prior mention of the "villain". Not that I cared.

I did discover that the framing story was quite clever.

I'm fairly certain that the theme of this book is racial prejudice. white v yellow, yellow v white.

Then in the Acknowledgements the author writes that the book is, in part, a horror story and I thought, she's right.

Forget the "dark humour" in the blurb. This is a book with a message -- a message which is unreadable because it is wrapped in rather unpleasant everyday largely psychological horror.

Nick Lethbridge    /    Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting    /   Problems? Solved.
   ===


Happiness is wanting what you already have