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A review by nibs
Seeing Other People by Diana Reid
emotional
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I was disappointed in this book. The characters by themselves are 2 dimensional, and only start getting fleshed out in relation to other people when the plot picks up. There's no sense of the character's as individuals.
The writing itself was overly descriptive at times. But the big sticking point for me was that the author does not know how to handle race. The author goes into detailed character descriptions of their physical appearance (eye colour, nose shape, eyebrows, muscle tone, etc.), focusing on smaller details while ignoring skin colour, assuming whiteness or awkwardly mentioning the country a character's parents are from before/after. Some characters will discuss their white privilege in a situation, but it is only vaguely referenced that other characters they are friends with do not have this privilege. Between the writing and the character's actions, there's a faux-wokeness which actually feels worse than if the author had been doing these things ignorantly / because they didn't know any better.
The exploration of queerness felt half-baked. Yes, there was some good stuff with the queer characters, but then you have moments like when some characters attend a Pride in Law event and completely miss the point of such an event, or a bi character go 'I didn't know you were gay' to another character (yes internalised biphobia plays a part, but it also felt like bad writing). Yes the characters are in love regardless of gender, which is very queer, but the handling of the other parts of being queer (political, social, given we are in a heteronormative society) was glossed over or handled clumsily.
This book got more enjoyable in its melodrama via audio (I switched after chapter 4, because I couldn't stand reading this book without multitasking), but I can't recommend this book to anyone with its clumsy writing. I would have dropped it after the first chapter if not for the fact it's a bookclub read.
The writing itself was overly descriptive at times. But the big sticking point for me was that the author does not know how to handle race. The author goes into detailed character descriptions of their physical appearance (eye colour, nose shape, eyebrows, muscle tone, etc.), focusing on smaller details while ignoring skin colour, assuming whiteness or awkwardly mentioning the country a character's parents are from before/after. Some characters will discuss their white privilege in a situation, but it is only vaguely referenced that other characters they are friends with do not have this privilege. Between the writing and the character's actions, there's a faux-wokeness which actually feels worse than if the author had been doing these things ignorantly / because they didn't know any better.
The exploration of queerness felt half-baked. Yes, there was some good stuff with the queer characters, but then you have moments like when some characters attend a Pride in Law event and completely miss the point of such an event, or a bi character go 'I didn't know you were gay' to another character (yes internalised biphobia plays a part, but it also felt like bad writing). Yes the characters are in love regardless of gender, which is very queer, but the handling of the other parts of being queer (political, social, given we are in a heteronormative society) was glossed over or handled clumsily.
This book got more enjoyable in its melodrama via audio (I switched after chapter 4, because I couldn't stand reading this book without multitasking), but I can't recommend this book to anyone with its clumsy writing. I would have dropped it after the first chapter if not for the fact it's a bookclub read.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Drug use
Minor: Suicidal thoughts