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A review by cwgrieves
Island of Point Nemo by Jean-Marie Blas de Roblès, Hannah Chute
2.0
For me, this book didn't reach the standards that I expect from Open Letter. I really struggled to get all of the way through it. The writing and the main plot were fairly mediocre, but the concept was great. I got to the end thinking that there was a lot more that could have been done with the idea behind the story.
The plot of the Canterel/Holmes story-line had far too many coincidences in it for me. It also wasn't clear when it was set (or if it was set in a completely different timeline). There were points where the characters seemed to be in the late 19th Century and points where they seemed to be in the early 21st Century. Those inconsistencies really pulled me out of the narrative. I saw the twist coming a mile off and the powers that one character acquired towards the end were neither explained, nor relevant.
My biggest two issues with this book though were the completely unnecessary racial slurs and the incidents of sexual violence. I think that racism and sexual assault are important topics and fiction writers shouldn't shy away from addressing them. In my opinion though, the author did a terrible job of handling both issues.
The plot of the Canterel/Holmes story-line had far too many coincidences in it for me. It also wasn't clear when it was set (or if it was set in a completely different timeline). There were points where the characters seemed to be in the late 19th Century and points where they seemed to be in the early 21st Century. Those inconsistencies really pulled me out of the narrative. I saw the twist coming a mile off and the powers that one character acquired towards the end were neither explained, nor relevant.
My biggest two issues with this book though were the completely unnecessary racial slurs and the incidents of sexual violence. I think that racism and sexual assault are important topics and fiction writers shouldn't shy away from addressing them. In my opinion though, the author did a terrible job of handling both issues.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racial slurs and Sexual violence