A review by lsbyl
The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi

dark slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

I am torn about this book because I wanted to love it. The story and setting are full of potential, the ideas, the characters, the setting, the world building could have been wonderful but I just did not see it come to fruition. I was keen to see Bangkok portrayed in this almost analogue, post-apocalyptic, not-quite dystopian future. On a fundamental level, this post-colonial SF deals with a world
collapsed by plague and disease, a fitting scene for a dystopian biopunk novel. However, there are major holes in the world building and character development that I can’t see past.  

We are thrown into future Bangkok but with no clear sense of where in time we have landed. Despite the incredibly long winded first third of the novel, there is no clear explanation of how we got there or the events that have unfolded except for very loose references to what are seemingly major global events that have witnessed the downfall of global trade, agriculture, technology, fossil fuels and apparently, Finland.

The characters lack any sort of depth and despite being the titular character, Emiko’s story is limp and lacklustre. She does not give off main character energy. I expected more from her, I expected her to be the driver of the story and have some sense of strength, personality and purpose about her beyond that of a prostitute, a servant and a dog. I found her story and character development empty, void of any material that would help me build some sort of connection with the character, that would make me empathise with her, or root for her cause. The plot and development of the story really only loosely circle her plight and to be honest many of the machinations could have carried on without her. Her character development revolves around graphic scenes of rape and brutality and empty, meaningless, often cheap, descriptions of her body: “the gentle promise of her breasts”. Where there are tiny sparks of agency for her, it falls back on her ingrained need to serve. To be honest, I really struggled to find connection with any of characters and found the representations of characters problematic throughout. 

I also struggled with the writing, which I found dry and incredibly repetitive. Characters are constantly listed by their actions: Character stands, Character nods, Character cocks his head, Character says, Character motions, Character shrugs. It made it really difficult to get absorbed into the story with the only exception being the shorter chapters adding to a sense of urgency as the story ramps up around halfway through. 

Overall, I’m really disappointed in The Windup Girl. I was enthralled reading the back cover and hoping to be launched into a new futuristic version of Bangkok, a world of scarcity and the personal and political challenges that arise as a result. I got some of that but not nearly enough to satisfy the itch that the idea of The Windup Girl created.  
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