A review by alibrareads
The Oddfits by Tiffany Tsao
3.0
That was definitely not what I expected it to be. The beginning had me laughing at the absurdity of poor Murgatroyd's situation, but as the book went on the things that originally had me grinning soon had me shaking my head in disbelief and pity. Absurdism in books is really hit or miss with me. This one was done okay, but it was just so... Awful! This poor kid was forcibly stunted in his growth as a functional human being by his own parents from the day he was born, helped along by the unseen forces of our Known World itself. He lives a miserable existence of constant and intentional abuse and doesn't know any different, seeing the acts as love because it's all he knows.
One quote in particular made me sad, because it sort of resonated with me. I've had those same thoughts before: "Wasn't that enough? Wasn't that all one should expect from life? To be almost content some of the time?"
If the protagonist wasn't such a hopeless simpleton then I think I would have enjoyed this book more. Poor Murgatroyd is so hapless that as a reader on his side you have this one hope dangled in front of you, but the slow journey towards it feels so desperate and difficult that it's hard to feel positive at any point during this book. And it isn't his fault, as the book explains; the whole world is literally trying to kill him, and that's why it's so sad, but it's also frustrating.
I also didn't realize this book was the first of a duology. This first book is all backstory and setup for what I think I expected the book to be like originally: traveling to the mysterious More Known World that we get tantalizing tastes of. The mental image of of a blue sanded beach was really neat! I'm not sure if I necessarily want to read the sequel... From its blurb and the way this first book ended it sounds like there will be more adventure and action, plus its such a short series, maybe I'll find a way to get it digitally rather than a hardcopy.
Overall it was quite an interesting read. Heavier in subject matter than I ever expected.
One quote in particular made me sad, because it sort of resonated with me. I've had those same thoughts before: "Wasn't that enough? Wasn't that all one should expect from life? To be almost content some of the time?"
If the protagonist wasn't such a hopeless simpleton then I think I would have enjoyed this book more. Poor Murgatroyd is so hapless that as a reader on his side you have this one hope dangled in front of you, but the slow journey towards it feels so desperate and difficult that it's hard to feel positive at any point during this book. And it isn't his fault, as the book explains; the whole world is literally trying to kill him, and that's why it's so sad, but it's also frustrating.
I also didn't realize this book was the first of a duology. This first book is all backstory and setup for what I think I expected the book to be like originally: traveling to the mysterious More Known World that we get tantalizing tastes of. The mental image of of a blue sanded beach was really neat! I'm not sure if I necessarily want to read the sequel... From its blurb and the way this first book ended it sounds like there will be more adventure and action, plus its such a short series, maybe I'll find a way to get it digitally rather than a hardcopy.
Overall it was quite an interesting read. Heavier in subject matter than I ever expected.