My rating: 3/5 stars
I feel torn by this novel. On the one hand it was so original, and deals with some key issues in publishing right now, those of authentic voice, diversity and who has a right to tell what story. Kuang is clearly an excellent writer, the prose is flawless and I raced through this book. But, Kuang’s point was so clear and so heavy handed that it lost a lot of impact, for me. I felt that coming at these important issues with more subtlety would have made this resonate more. From a purely storytelling point of view, the narrator was so unlikeable that she wasn’t quite believable. The highs and lows of the #WritingCommunity, though, were spot on. Worth a read. Definitely worth discussing. For me, though, this was just too didactic.
Lose Yourself Books 