Author: Laura Ruby
Published by: Faber & Faber
Publication date: 29th December 2016
Format: Paperback
Source: Library
** spoiler alert **
I was ultimately and unfortunately a bit disappointed with this book.
I love a bit of magical realism but this example just fell a bit flat in my opinion.
The "magic" seemed to serve no real overall point.
It was just shoved in here and there to pad out the plot a bit.
Roza could quite easily have been kidnapped by a normal man who prized her for her beauty and kept prisoner in a normal house instead of a confusing magical realm.
A lot of the "magic" was confusing to be honest.
What was the corn about?
I thought they said that scarecrows were used to scare the corn instead of crows.
So why was the the kidnapper called The Scarecrow?
Did he scare the corn?
And what about the crows?
Were they magic?
Why did they help de-toilet paper Finns yard?
Who gave Charlie Valentine the horse?
How come Charlie Valentine is like 500 years old?
WHAT is he?!
What's going on?!?!
I did enjoy the parts about face-blindness though.
I thought those parts were very cleverly written.
After it was revealed I flicked back to earlier sections about Finn and how he saw the world and said "oh yeah!" to myself a lot.
I also quite liked the message that women are more than just their appearance.
It would have been even nicer if there were more girl-girl friendships/relationships (or even conversations!) going on.
WAY better if Roza had been allowed to save herself and if Petey had realised she didn't need ANYONE to think she was pretty to be happy.
Can we have a new ending where Roza escapes by herself and runs off back to Poland taking Petey with her, and they become BFF's growing vegetables and keeping bees?
Sad that this book was so disappointing. But your post made me laugh... So thanks for that! :D
ReplyDeleteHaha :) you're most welcome!
DeleteThis book sound really confusing when you have to ask all those questions and none of them resolve.
ReplyDeleteHopefully your next book won't disappoint as much. :)
It was a little silly.
DeleteI spent most of the book being like, "but why is that happening? Why is that the case?"
It was written well though, so at least it was a fast read! :)
It's so sad when a book falls flat because there seems to be no point to the story. I've only read a few magical realism novels and I'm not sure if I can get on board with this genre yet...
ReplyDeleteI've ready quite a few now and they can be REALLY lovely, if done well.
DeleteThe best of the best (in my opinion) is Haruki Murakami. He writes some of the most beautiful magical realism stories!