A review by lyricallit
Unseen City by Amy Shearn

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.0

This was a great disappointment. I really think it was trying to do too much. It had a lot to say in gentrification, racism, and grief; some were handled better than others. The best scenes I think were between Meg and her brother James, who pushed back against her and questioned her in necessary ways. Because quite frankly her interior narration was often tinged with hipstery condescension, despite trying to recognize her white privilege. 

There's also a (what seems to be significant) repetitive image that never comes to anything. When I realized I was 95% thru the book and it was still unexplained and not any closer to being so, I got really frustrated. And sure enough, it is never explained.

Spoiler

Honestly, I think it might have made more sense to have the ghost storyline unresolved for Ellis & Meg. If the idea is to emphasize the unseen histories layered under our present and how they affect our today, even without our consciousness, it would make sense that they can never find out who this ghost is and what she wants. That seems like it would fit better with other themes of the book rather than a hasty "resolution" slapped down in the last couple pages with no time for processing by either the characters or reader.