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A review by 0l1v1a
Sideshow by Sheri S. Tepper
3.0
Sideshow’s was an engaging enough story—it had to be, considering I kept reading despite pausing to roll my eyes every 10 to 15 pages. The writing was not up to the standard I’d expected. Every moment of exposition is miserably expositiony, far too “told,” if you will. The concepts with which Tepper engages are interesting, sure, but the way in which she goes about it feels heavy-handed at times.
The characters almost redeemed the book for me. They’re all interesting, all mostly round with a few flat spots. But the ways in which they think about gender—and they ALL think about gender—were either an undecipherable attempt at social commentary with no follow-through, or just weird.
This book came with a compelling recommendation from my brother, but I’m left with regret at having bumped other titles down on my list to accommodate this one. Would not recommend, unless you just really love sci-fi concepts and you don’t care if you’re occasionally jerked out of the narrative by an unwelcome awareness of the writing.
The characters almost redeemed the book for me. They’re all interesting, all mostly round with a few flat spots. But the ways in which they think about gender—and they ALL think about gender—were either an undecipherable attempt at social commentary with no follow-through, or just weird.
This book came with a compelling recommendation from my brother, but I’m left with regret at having bumped other titles down on my list to accommodate this one. Would not recommend, unless you just really love sci-fi concepts and you don’t care if you’re occasionally jerked out of the narrative by an unwelcome awareness of the writing.