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A review by tecryouapart
Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
I really tried to like this book. There were aspects that I liked, particularly the commentary on British Colonialism and the impact on Ireland. That's probably where the things I liked stopped. There was barely anything (if at all) about the history of Hong Kong, which would've made it more interesting. A lot of the other social commentary that popped up in conversations felt very surface level too and kind of pointless since it never actually went anywhere.
I was willing to pass off a lot of the casual racism as just being a character flaw of Ava's, but because she was never really criticised, nor was it ever stated that the things she was saying were wrong, it didn't feel like they were supposed to be a flaw? It just felt like they were author's own unconscious (racist) biases rather than Ava's. I always felt like she was coming across as very 'I'm not like the other (white) ExPats, I'm different' despite continuously proving to be the exact same. Also wasn't a fan of how Ava treated Edith; she was very condescending and patronising imo, and it almost felt like she'd taken on that toxic aspect of Julian. This might have been an intentional reflection of the relationship but idk, I didn't really like it.
I was willing to pass off a lot of the casual racism as just being a character flaw of Ava's, but because she was never really criticised, nor was it ever stated that the things she was saying were wrong, it didn't feel like they were supposed to be a flaw? It just felt like they were author's own unconscious (racist) biases rather than Ava's. I always felt like she was coming across as very 'I'm not like the other (white) ExPats, I'm different' despite continuously proving to be the exact same. Also wasn't a fan of how Ava treated Edith; she was very condescending and patronising imo, and it almost felt like she'd taken on that toxic aspect of Julian. This might have been an intentional reflection of the relationship but idk, I didn't really like it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism