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A review by girlwithherheadinabook
The Lost Art of Sinking by Naomi Booth
2.0
This was another Netgalley read which left me with distinctly no feelings at all. The girls in 2B have a new game, the Indian Headrush, competing to see who can pass out the most times in assembly. While the other girls grow out of the fainting, Esther becomes obsessed with it and continues to manage her breathing to the point of loss of consciousness well into adulthood. She is troubled by memories of her mother, a disappointed ex-ballerina, who expounded on the beauty of the swoon and who died when Esther was a teenager.
It is hard to care about a heroine who does not care about herself but it is not that she is simply troubled – Esther fails to relate to any of the other characters, meaning that The Lost Art of Sinking fades quickly from the mind and memory. There is some excellent writing here but having produced such an inert heroine, Booth fails to propel her to any kind of interesting conclusion. Esther simply wanders the streets of London, looking for somewhere new to faint. I was reminded of Jenn Ashworth’s Cold Light which had a similar protagonist but at least she is directed with greater conviction by her creator. A television adaptation might be able to breathe more life into her through some lingering camera work but Esther on the page left me feeling irritated and I was glad to bid her farewell.
It is hard to care about a heroine who does not care about herself but it is not that she is simply troubled – Esther fails to relate to any of the other characters, meaning that The Lost Art of Sinking fades quickly from the mind and memory. There is some excellent writing here but having produced such an inert heroine, Booth fails to propel her to any kind of interesting conclusion. Esther simply wanders the streets of London, looking for somewhere new to faint. I was reminded of Jenn Ashworth’s Cold Light which had a similar protagonist but at least she is directed with greater conviction by her creator. A television adaptation might be able to breathe more life into her through some lingering camera work but Esther on the page left me feeling irritated and I was glad to bid her farewell.