A review by little_worm
Your Face in Mine by Jess Row
2.0
The blurb for this caught me because of a trend that's been growing over at tumblr. There are the furkin, who believe that they are animals (typically wolves) trapped in the body of humans, the otherkin that play the same game but with supernatural creatures such as vampires and werewolves, and even fictionkin that develop perhaps too strong an attachment to their favourite fictional characters.
Among this club there is another group; the transracial or transethnic -- those that believe they've been born into the wrong race. Typically this is a sentiment expressed among extreme Japanophiles, but it's a concept I've not seen explored in literature too frequently, and so I was pretty excited when I received an advance copy of Your Face in Mine to review.
Kelly Thorndike has moved back to Baltimore following the tragic death of his wife and daughter, and just by chance one day bumps into Martin, an old friend from his childhood. Except this is not the Martin Lipkin that he remembers as a pale slim Jewish boy, this is now Martin Wilkinson - African American.
Martin recruits Kelly to follow his story, to help him launch it to the wider world and to bring Racial Transitioning to a global conciousness, to be the one to break the story. Having recently lost his public radio station due to lack of followership, Kelly rides along with this and ultimately.
It's an interesting premise, but I feel the execution is what lets this novel down. For a novel that is entirely about race, it only touched on the subject of what it means to be black in America, or to become a part of the minority from a position of privilege and power. It's interesting to read accounts from women following their MtF transition and learn how this change impacts upon their daily life, but Martin only mentions, very offhandedly, perhaps two or three incidents about this challenge within the entire book.
There's a lot of what feels like filler -- in the early stages of the story a great deal is given to the radio station Kelly works for, seeming to no constructive end until perhaps within the final thirty pages or so
One of the main transformations within the novel comes within the final fifty or so pages
It felt like such a terrible decision, and one that was made by someone still in the throes of grief, given that Kelly still speaks and converses with his dead wife in the early stages of the novel, and and irreversible one that he would come to regret within a couple of years.
Despite this being a novel that crosses race and boarders the characters had no distinct voice. This was particularly challenging given Row's decision to not use quotation marks, and there were a number of chapters featuring multiple speakers, sometimes in the region of 4-5, with very little to indicate who was saying what. This combined with long passages about the history of Baltimore, business, politics, all packed to the brim with jargon and unnecessary details, made for a very difficult read.
I half wonder if part of this was intentional, if Row meant to leave us unsure of who was saying what, to peel away these boundaries in the same way he was doing so with race -- these people have the same voices because in essence they are all the same. Only, it doesn't make for particularly enjoyable or engaging reading.
There were some spots in there that did shine though, notable the passages relating to Martin and Kelly's childhood and their history with Alan, and these sections were definitely much more engaging and leant more to character development. I only with they weren't so far and few between.
I was provided this copy as an ARC for which I am very grateful, but if you'd like to check it out for yourself Your Face in Mine is out August 14th from Riverhead Books.
Among this club there is another group; the transracial or transethnic -- those that believe they've been born into the wrong race. Typically this is a sentiment expressed among extreme Japanophiles, but it's a concept I've not seen explored in literature too frequently, and so I was pretty excited when I received an advance copy of Your Face in Mine to review.
Kelly Thorndike has moved back to Baltimore following the tragic death of his wife and daughter, and just by chance one day bumps into Martin, an old friend from his childhood. Except this is not the Martin Lipkin that he remembers as a pale slim Jewish boy, this is now Martin Wilkinson - African American.
Martin recruits Kelly to follow his story, to help him launch it to the wider world and to bring Racial Transitioning to a global conciousness, to be the one to break the story. Having recently lost his public radio station due to lack of followership, Kelly rides along with this and ultimately
Spoiler
goes through with the procedure himself, going from American to ChineseIt's an interesting premise, but I feel the execution is what lets this novel down. For a novel that is entirely about race, it only touched on the subject of what it means to be black in America, or to become a part of the minority from a position of privilege and power. It's interesting to read accounts from women following their MtF transition and learn how this change impacts upon their daily life, but Martin only mentions, very offhandedly, perhaps two or three incidents about this challenge within the entire book.
There's a lot of what feels like filler -- in the early stages of the story a great deal is given to the radio station Kelly works for, seeming to no constructive end until perhaps within the final thirty pages or so
Spoiler
during which he is confronted by Mort, an ex-employee, about his links to Martin, and the company which is a shell of sorts for this racial surgery. The encounter seems to deflate very quickly though, with Kelly simply walking out of the conversation and simply negating any conflict there may have been.One of the main transformations within the novel comes within the final fifty or so pages
Spoiler
when Kelly learns that he was invited to cover Martin's own transformation, to travel with him to Thailand, was simply a ruse to persuade him to go through the procedure himself and become Chinese. Kelly accepts this within a couple of pages or so. Kelly has spent time studying and working in China and this was where he met his wife, Wendy. The only indication though the entire 300 or so pages up to this point is a brief moment in which, following the loss of their daughter and granddaughter, Wendy's parents ask Kelly to stay with them. He declines because, being white, he is always going to be a foreigner and outsider within their community. It's a short exchange, and nothing that would lend credence to Kelly's easy and swift acceptance - the agrees to the procedure and it is started the following day!It felt like such a terrible decision, and one that was made by someone still in the throes of grief, given that Kelly still speaks and converses with his dead wife in the early stages of the novel, and and irreversible one that he would come to regret within a couple of years.
Despite this being a novel that crosses race and boarders the characters had no distinct voice. This was particularly challenging given Row's decision to not use quotation marks, and there were a number of chapters featuring multiple speakers, sometimes in the region of 4-5, with very little to indicate who was saying what. This combined with long passages about the history of Baltimore, business, politics, all packed to the brim with jargon and unnecessary details, made for a very difficult read.
I half wonder if part of this was intentional, if Row meant to leave us unsure of who was saying what, to peel away these boundaries in the same way he was doing so with race -- these people have the same voices because in essence they are all the same. Only, it doesn't make for particularly enjoyable or engaging reading.
There were some spots in there that did shine though, notable the passages relating to Martin and Kelly's childhood and their history with Alan, and these sections were definitely much more engaging and leant more to character development. I only with they weren't so far and few between.
I was provided this copy as an ARC for which I am very grateful, but if you'd like to check it out for yourself Your Face in Mine is out August 14th from Riverhead Books.