A review by asterope
Rakesfall by Vajra Chandrasekera

Did not finish book. Stopped at 25%.
It really pains me to do this, especially after waiting so long to get hold of this book (not published in the UK - the fuck? It shouldn't be this hard to support an author). But I can't get into a book that is this opaque.

The synopsis doesn't really match what this book is trying to do. The author's style is undeniably beautiful as always, but the narrative choices are baffling. I can't understand what's going on. I can tell what the themes are, and how Chandrasekera feels about them. But reading this book is like getting hit in the face with those themes, instead of actually experiencing a book with characters, plot, etc. It's written with such a big chunk of context missing that it feels like I was supposed to do prior research before reading it. And that frustrates me.

I'm so sad because I loved The Saint of Bright Doors very much, but Rakesfall is not for me.