A review by foggy_rosamund
The Absolute Book by Elizabeth Knox

2.0

Other novels by Knox have hugely engaged and moved me, so I was delighted when this book was finally available in Ireland. Unfortunately, it disappointed me: it lacks depth. We begin with the death of the main character, Taryn's, sister, followed by Taryn's discovery of the Sidh, or the world of Faerie. In some ways The Absolute Book reads like an urban fantasy: the Sidh live in a parallel world to humans and can wander into our world, but mostly don't bother. There are elements of Christian belief tied into the Sidh, particularly heaven/hell. It also has a broader scope, because Knox is trying to say something about our relationship with our pasts and the ways in which humanity is destroying itself. As well as that, it's a book about books: Taryn has written a non-fiction book about libraries, and the importance of books and stories is woven throughout the novel. There are also a number of thriller-like elements here: there are chase scenes, murders, and stalkers. Perhaps it's in trying to balance all the elements that Knox flounders. No one element is fully realised. Other novels by Knox have succeeded for me in the ways Knox captures a sense of place and presence within a landscape, and by her memorable characters. In The Absolute Book, I rarely got a sense of place, and all the characters fell flat for me. I found myself skimming one of the most intense scenes, in which the two main characters fight to stay alive, because I simply didn't care about them or their predicament. There are bones of good stories in here, but Knox is trying too hard to write something pacy and dramatic, and juggling that with a good deal of backstory and complexity, and doesn't succeed. Reading this ended up feeling like a slog.