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A review by claudcloud
A Scatter of Light by Malinda Lo
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Yeah... I'm just as disappointed as you think I am. I was so excited to read this, especially after enjoying Telegraph Club so much, but it just fell completely short for me.
I will acknowledge that there is something to be said about how Malinda Lo is not afraid to show just how messy life can get. Infidelity happens on the daily, and with Aria being practically fresh out of diapers - especially in her journey as a queer person - it was to be expected that she'd get swept up by the Steph of it all and make some incredibly poor decisions. (As an aside, Aria Tang West is eighteen years old. She does not feel like that at any point in the book).
But then we get to the second person in the equation and it just? It makes no sense? Steph might only be a couple of years older, but she is way more experienced, and she absolutely should've known better than starting something with Aria before having the guts to break up with Lisa. The whole time I was expecting Lisa to notice the growing tension between them and Steph to finally speak her mind and acknowledge that she and Lisa "hadn't been working for a long time" (IN HER OWN WORDS!!!) but instead she chooses... to cheat. Repeatedly, and as often as she can. Have some backbone, my dude.
I guess at least she suffered some consequences for her actions i.e. losing Lisa, while Aria just... didn't. Which is also extremely confusing to me because how is she going to be the other woman in someone else's relationship, talk about her "overwhelming guilt" in only a few sentences, then go on with her life as if she did nothing wrong??? Even get rewarded for it by having the opportunity to emulate her grandmother with an art show?
Maybe I'm too dumb to get it, but in that case, I really didn't get it. The redeeming quality of this book was Aria's relationship with her grandmother Joan, who I really enjoyed and who I really didn't want to die. I wonder how she would've reacted to what her granddaughter did.
But then we get to the second person in the equation and it just? It makes no sense? Steph might only be a couple of years older, but she is way more experienced, and she absolutely should've known better than starting something with Aria before having the guts to break up with Lisa. The whole time I was expecting Lisa to notice the growing tension between them and Steph to finally speak her mind and acknowledge that she and Lisa "hadn't been working for a long time" (IN HER OWN WORDS!!!) but instead she chooses... to cheat. Repeatedly, and as often as she can. Have some backbone, my dude.
I guess at least she suffered some consequences for her actions i.e. losing Lisa, while Aria just... didn't. Which is also extremely confusing to me because how is she going to be the other woman in someone else's relationship, talk about her "overwhelming guilt" in only a few sentences, then go on with her life as if she did nothing wrong??? Even get rewarded for it by having the opportunity to emulate her grandmother with an art show?
Maybe I'm too dumb to get it, but in that case, I really didn't get it. The redeeming quality of this book was Aria's relationship with her grandmother Joan, who I really enjoyed and who I really didn't want to die. I wonder how she would've reacted to what her granddaughter did.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Infidelity