A review by berenikeasteria
Lavinia by Ursula K. Le Guin

3.0

I have never read a book by Ursula le Guin before, though I know her reputation as a giant of the fantasy genre, so I was a little surprised to see she’d written a historical/mythology novel. I don’t think Lavinia is for me. The writing was competent but I was never amazed by it or sucked in to the story. Lavinia as a character didn’t compel me, even though the author works to flesh out what is a bare bones sketch in Virgil’s Aeneid. And I really didn’t like that fact that le Guin drew Virgil into the story as well as some kind of future, fevered ghost to let original writer and his creation interact with one another. That seemed far too meta to me, and I found it broke my suspension of disbelief rather than being clever or cute.

6 out of 10