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A review by ladybookamore
Hex by Rebecca Dinerstein Knight
3.0
First and foremost, I thank Bloomsbury India for sending across this beautiful proof copy.
Hex anticipates witchcraft, but only as a fantastic parallel to the protagonist's botanical experiments on toxic flowers and plants. After a tedious journey of 215 pages which occupied four days of my life, I realised that Hex is the literary crossover of Fleabag's tragicomedy and Riverdale's Dark Academia. And this theme on toxicology and botany kept reminding me of Poison Ivy (the DC villain, yes) for absolutely no reason whatsoever.
There are very few things I liked about Hex and too many aspects which I could not connect to. And the latter stands testimony to my annoyance towards the book. But before I venture into the "why I didn't like the book?" question, I will focus on the positive aspects of it. Hex has a very intriguing narrative style from the first person point of view. Though such a narrative style is meant to provide its readers the ability to look into the narrator's psyche, Hex allows its readers delve deep into the minds of its cast as well. Unusual, but executed nicely. Second, the conclusion. The prevalent mood of Hex is that of disappointment, disillusionment, moroseness, desperation, desire, and the list goes on. But when you finish reading this book, you will realise that Hex is a long night full of hopelessness and desolation, and the ending is as beautiful as the dawn. When you reach the last page, you as a reader will realise how important this glimpse of happiness and joy is, in the plot.
And here begins why I did not like the book. As a native Indian, I have no idea about what going from "4 to 6 to F" actually means. There were a handful of similar expressions which I could not understand. The dialect of the narrator is (probably) that of a Kansas person, hence an alien language to me. This is followed by a number of words and phrases narrator employs in her speech throughout the book, all of which remain foreign and unrelatable to me. When I could not understand the surface of Hex, I tried to go underneath the text, but in vain. I don't know if this was the reason why the author opted for a Bollywood film reference for the Indian readers as a comic relief. Reading Hex seemed like being in a party full of strangers, and you are abandoned by the very friend who invited you in the first place, but the only reason you are (still) there is for the jam. Period. That is exactly how I was feeling while reading Hex. It is quite unfortunate that I could not comprehend what the author was trying to convey amidst the complicated web of relationships and jargon.
However, I do appreciate one aspect of Hex. It was the depiction of the narrator. The lesbian dimension has been explored brilliantly. The protagonist's submissive attitude towards the person she admires and loves the most is both boring and sad. Boring, because the narrator goes one to talk to you all the time in the novel. And sad, because you realise how lonely and aimless the narrator has been all the while. You don't feel pity for the character. Rather, you feel that the character deserves so much more. I convey my best wishes to the author for her future endeavours.
Hex anticipates witchcraft, but only as a fantastic parallel to the protagonist's botanical experiments on toxic flowers and plants. After a tedious journey of 215 pages which occupied four days of my life, I realised that Hex is the literary crossover of Fleabag's tragicomedy and Riverdale's Dark Academia. And this theme on toxicology and botany kept reminding me of Poison Ivy (the DC villain, yes) for absolutely no reason whatsoever.
There are very few things I liked about Hex and too many aspects which I could not connect to. And the latter stands testimony to my annoyance towards the book. But before I venture into the "why I didn't like the book?" question, I will focus on the positive aspects of it. Hex has a very intriguing narrative style from the first person point of view. Though such a narrative style is meant to provide its readers the ability to look into the narrator's psyche, Hex allows its readers delve deep into the minds of its cast as well. Unusual, but executed nicely. Second, the conclusion. The prevalent mood of Hex is that of disappointment, disillusionment, moroseness, desperation, desire, and the list goes on. But when you finish reading this book, you will realise that Hex is a long night full of hopelessness and desolation, and the ending is as beautiful as the dawn. When you reach the last page, you as a reader will realise how important this glimpse of happiness and joy is, in the plot.
And here begins why I did not like the book. As a native Indian, I have no idea about what going from
However, I do appreciate one aspect of Hex. It was the depiction of the narrator. The lesbian dimension has been explored brilliantly. The protagonist's submissive attitude towards the person she admires and loves the most is both boring and sad. Boring, because the narrator goes one to talk to you all the time in the novel. And sad, because you realise how lonely and aimless the narrator has been all the while. You don't feel pity for the character. Rather, you feel that the character deserves so much more. I convey my best wishes to the author for her future endeavours.