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A review by kiarainthestacks
Destroyer of Light by Jennifer Marie Brissett
4.0
Destroyer of Light really ended up surprising me! When I saw that it was a Persephone retelling, I expected some type of romantic plot point. Brissett takes the classic Persephone story and turns it on its head; there is no romance, only an antihero Persephone against a world that would see her fail.
One thing that really endeared this book to me was the fact that there were virtually no white people. Every character was Black or brown, and it was very comforting. There was no explanation for the lack of white people, at least not a substantial one, and it was refreshing because it cemented the stories of the BIPOC characters as the ones that mattered. So often we are relegated to the sidelines of predominately white stories, so it was nice to read a book that centered us. It was not made into a big deal in the book; it just WAS. No explanation needed.
While I enjoyed the story overall, there were two glaring aspects that did not go over well in my opinion. The first is the use of time jumps and different perspectives. I understand the necessity for them in the story as a whole, but that doesn't mean that they were easy to read. They added a lot of unnecessary confusion, and it took me out of the story. It was jarring.
The second thing that bothered me was the use of neopronouns, While I applaud Brissett for using them, I'm not sure that I agree with HOW she used them. Only the aliens used neopronouns, and they weren't seen in a good light by the majority of the population. I'm not sure how well this would go over with a nonbinary reader, considering the users of neopronouns in the book were villainized.
Overall, I enjoyed this book! I like how Brissett tackled real-world issues and showed how we'd have some of the same societal problems that we do now even if we were to pick up and start over on another world. Stefonie, the Persephone character, was also very well crafted, and although she made some questionable decisions, I couldn't stop rooting for her.
One thing that really endeared this book to me was the fact that there were virtually no white people. Every character was Black or brown, and it was very comforting. There was no explanation for the lack of white people, at least not a substantial one, and it was refreshing because it cemented the stories of the BIPOC characters as the ones that mattered. So often we are relegated to the sidelines of predominately white stories, so it was nice to read a book that centered us. It was not made into a big deal in the book; it just WAS. No explanation needed.
While I enjoyed the story overall, there were two glaring aspects that did not go over well in my opinion. The first is the use of time jumps and different perspectives. I understand the necessity for them in the story as a whole, but that doesn't mean that they were easy to read. They added a lot of unnecessary confusion, and it took me out of the story. It was jarring.
The second thing that bothered me was the use of neopronouns, While I applaud Brissett for using them, I'm not sure that I agree with HOW she used them. Only the aliens used neopronouns, and they weren't seen in a good light by the majority of the population. I'm not sure how well this would go over with a nonbinary reader, considering the users of neopronouns in the book were villainized.
Overall, I enjoyed this book! I like how Brissett tackled real-world issues and showed how we'd have some of the same societal problems that we do now even if we were to pick up and start over on another world. Stefonie, the Persephone character, was also very well crafted, and although she made some questionable decisions, I couldn't stop rooting for her.