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mykingdomforacommune's review against another edition
dark
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
When oil runs out, how will America exploit the world? This is the core question at the heart of the world building in The Windup Girl.
But it also aims to show how we, as animals, fall very quickly to predation and moral apathy in the face of cataclism.
Are the characters loveable? Absolutely not and neither, if we are honest, are most of us if our very existence were threatened. However, the characters in this novel also resort to a lot of racial stereotypes and general hostility. Muslim groups massacring non Muslims, smug conniving Chinese, and the corrupt Thai are all very present.
This is also yet another book that uses rape to create sympathy for the fem lead. The scenes are graphic so advance with caution.
The speculative elements in the book range from cool to the utterly ridiculous. The scientifically impossible apparently easy, even in destroyed shells of a city, and things that are possible now are treated as impossible.
In short, read with caution, flip through any scenes as soon as they get rapey, and suspend your disbelief and it's an enjoyable science fantasy.
But it also aims to show how we, as animals, fall very quickly to predation and moral apathy in the face of cataclism.
Are the characters loveable? Absolutely not and neither, if we are honest, are most of us if our very existence were threatened. However, the characters in this novel also resort to a lot of racial stereotypes and general hostility. Muslim groups massacring non Muslims, smug conniving Chinese, and the corrupt Thai are all very present.
This is also yet another book that uses rape to create sympathy for the fem lead. The scenes are graphic so advance with caution.
The speculative elements in the book range from cool to the utterly ridiculous. The scientifically impossible apparently easy, even in destroyed shells of a city, and things that are possible now are treated as impossible.
In short, read with caution, flip through any scenes as soon as they get rapey, and suspend your disbelief and it's an enjoyable science fantasy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Rape, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Infertility, Islamophobia, Colonisation, and War