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A review by theciz
The Unseeing by Anna Mazzola
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
A historical thriller I picked up because a friend had enjoyed it and lent it to me. Based on a real case, the Victorian London setting is very well done, even if it does the cliche thing of all the "bad" characters having period opinions and our protagonists having mostly modern ones. The discussion about the justice system in the 1830s is also interesting, if a bit heavy handed at times.
The problem, really, is the characters. Edmund is a complete mark, Sarah herself is all over the place (and for me largely unsympathetic when clearly intended to be otherwise) and other characters are pretty thin. The pacing also suffers, and the story feels increasingly drawn out for no reason nearer the end, only for things to be concluded pretty briefly. The resolution to the mystery is also very "8pm procedural murder of the week". Mazzola clearly discovered the story of Hannah Brown’s murder and worked backwards from there for the book, and unfortunately it shows, as a lot of the framing is pretty flimsy. Ultimately it just made me want to reread Alias Grace, which does a similar thing in a much more complex, interesting way.
The problem, really, is the characters. Edmund is a complete mark, Sarah herself is all over the place (and for me largely unsympathetic when clearly intended to be otherwise) and other characters are pretty thin. The pacing also suffers, and the story feels increasingly drawn out for no reason nearer the end, only for things to be concluded pretty briefly. The resolution to the mystery is also very "8pm procedural murder of the week". Mazzola clearly discovered the story of Hannah Brown’s murder and worked backwards from there for the book, and unfortunately it shows, as a lot of the framing is pretty flimsy. Ultimately it just made me want to reread Alias Grace, which does a similar thing in a much more complex, interesting way.