It happens.
Occasionally.
As we have a very democratic way of selecting our books, there is no malice in your reviews. And you certainly don't hold it against the person who selected the book. There's no point in that. It's a book.
So tonight we had book group and I really didn't like the book.
We read Holly Ringland's The Seven Skins of Esther Wilding.
I gave it a three stars out of five. Just.
Two point seven five is probably a more accurate review.
And although I didn't mind the story, I had the following concerns with the book. It's
- I've never seen a book more in need of a good edit. At 544 pages, it could have lost 150 pages with ease.
- There were some really dodgy editing decisions. The one that got me was for continually referring to Hobart as Nipaluna, Hobart, and Lutrawita, Tasmania. I onboard with referring to places by their indigenous names, but do this once, then stick to the later nomenclature, maybe clarifying if explaining the place to new people.
- There was a hell of a lot of repetition. Enough to piss me off.
- And there were numerous references to 80's songs, which if you weren't a Gen-Xer or very fond of eighties music, would be confusing.
It's like the book was written as a pre-cursor to a screen play, and for no other reason.
It's a book that could have been so much better. A book of great ideas, but badly executed.
Oh well.
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