Started Strong. Immediately Downhill - Did Not Finish
This is a murder mystery taking place in San Francisco in the 1970s. The characters and themes are based off of the work of William Blake. I personally have not read Blake's work, so I am unsure how true to the original material the characters are. However, I felt that overall the cast of characters and their interactions were interesting at first.
The book itself is rather large, coming in at 559 pages including the epilogue. The story has a medium-pace, with a slow beginning. I enjoyed most of it, however there were a few scenes that were hard to read. For one, there is a part where Investigator O'Nadir is mentioned to be mildly homophobic. Considering the book takes place in the 70s this isn't too out of character, however, it was an unnecessary addition to the story. It had nothing to add to the murder overall.
Additionally, every time the character Beulah Vala is mentioned or involved in the plot, there is consistently metaphors or statements made that feel very demeaning. Overall Beulah is a poorly written character, and is clearly just there for sex appeal. In fact, anytime a woman was mentioned, there were comments made that just made me as a reader feel very icky and awkward. Also beware the phrase "Tiny gatekeeper above the entrance to my being" is used to describe a woman's reproductive organs.
3/4ths the way through the book, I finally had to put it down. I could not finish it. The depiction of women was just disgusting and overall just hard to read. This book would have been better if it was 350 pages instead of 559, and took out the gratuitous explanations of sex and sexuality. Would not recommend
The book itself is rather large, coming in at 559 pages including the epilogue. The story has a medium-pace, with a slow beginning. I enjoyed most of it, however there were a few scenes that were hard to read. For one, there is a part where Investigator O'Nadir is mentioned to be mildly homophobic. Considering the book takes place in the 70s this isn't too out of character, however, it was an unnecessary addition to the story. It had nothing to add to the murder overall.
Additionally, every time the character Beulah Vala is mentioned or involved in the plot, there is consistently metaphors or statements made that feel very demeaning. Overall Beulah is a poorly written character, and is clearly just there for sex appeal. In fact, anytime a woman was mentioned, there were comments made that just made me as a reader feel very icky and awkward. Also beware the phrase "Tiny gatekeeper above the entrance to my being" is used to describe a woman's reproductive organs.
3/4ths the way through the book, I finally had to put it down. I could not finish it. The depiction of women was just disgusting and overall just hard to read. This book would have been better if it was 350 pages instead of 559, and took out the gratuitous explanations of sex and sexuality. Would not recommend