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A review by verbminx
Shinju by Laura Joh Rowland
3.0
Perilously balanced between 2 and 3 stars, but given the benefit of the doubt because it was a first novel and a lot of research went into it (it's set in Edo--Tokyo--in the 1690s). Parker's Akitada series is compared to these for good reason, but so far I find Akitada, with his temper, more sympathetic than Sano, who is idealized in comparison. Parker's prose style is also more polished than Rowland's was at this point. Both Sano and Akitada have the problem of being an "exceptional" hero in a way that's calculted to appeal to mainstream modern tastes and mores: Sano doesn't engage in homosexual encounters, and while Akitada does cheat on his wife in a way that would have been at least marginally acceptable in his society, he doesn't consider taking a second wife.
An issue that I'm having with Rowland's books that may keep me from getting much further in the series than Bundori, the sequel to Shinju, is the representation of gay characters in general. In each, there's a villainous character who engages in explicit, deviant same-sex encounters (something kinkier than just gay sex, which is no big deal in Sano's world and social class). It's problematic to me to see something like that without positive representation to balance it; when it's a plot point in more than one successive book, it comes off as homophobic. It does tie closely into the plot of Shinju, which is why I wouldn't suggest omitting it completely... I just think Rowland could have handled it better than she did at the time.
An issue that I'm having with Rowland's books that may keep me from getting much further in the series than Bundori, the sequel to Shinju, is the representation of gay characters in general. In each, there's a villainous character who engages in explicit, deviant same-sex encounters (something kinkier than just gay sex, which is no big deal in Sano's world and social class). It's problematic to me to see something like that without positive representation to balance it; when it's a plot point in more than one successive book, it comes off as homophobic. It does tie closely into the plot of Shinju, which is why I wouldn't suggest omitting it completely... I just think Rowland could have handled it better than she did at the time.