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A review by jessrock
The Sleepwalker's Guide to Dancing by Mira Jacob
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
I liked the family story at the core of this book well enough, but this book is simply not good enough to justify its length. It needed a more ruthless editor to cut back the length and clean up the writing. The novel is full of bizarre metaphors and awkward dialogue, and there are language choices the author should not have made, including the r-word and the n-word and a chapter that opens with an accusation of rape that turns out to be a joke after two characters have had consensual sex. The author is consistently fatphobic in the way she describes certain characters, and I'm not really sure what she was trying to do with the Puyallup tribe subplot.
The underlying story is interesting in its examination of family dynamics: between family in India and the son who chose to leave with his wife and immigrate to America; between that couple and their children who are much more "American" than the parents would have preferred; and within the family as they cope with grief and failing health. The book focuses on Amina, the younger child, who in the novel's present day is a photographer living in Seattle. Amina is likable enough, but the more we learn about her career, the more uncomfortable I got. When shooting weddings she also takes voyeuristic photos that are practically creepshots (people who have passed out, people sobbing or vomiting in a bathroom stall, a father-of-the-bride having sex in the coatroom with a bridesmaid), and toward the end of the book there's a scene where she offhandedly mentions that she takes photos of people inside their houses while she's outside. She doesn't really examine these impulses which left a bad taste in my mouth about her.
The underlying story is interesting in its examination of family dynamics: between family in India and the son who chose to leave with his wife and immigrate to America; between that couple and their children who are much more "American" than the parents would have preferred; and within the family as they cope with grief and failing health. The book focuses on Amina, the younger child, who in the novel's present day is a photographer living in Seattle. Amina is likable enough, but the more we learn about her career, the more uncomfortable I got. When shooting weddings she also takes voyeuristic photos that are practically creepshots (people who have passed out, people sobbing or vomiting in a bathroom stall, a father-of-the-bride having sex in the coatroom with a bridesmaid), and toward the end of the book there's a scene where she offhandedly mentions that she takes photos of people inside their houses while she's outside. She doesn't really examine these impulses which left a bad taste in my mouth about her.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Fatphobia
Minor: Ableism, Racial slurs, and Transphobia