Post from the Pagebound Club forum
I recently finished the memory police and a good portion of the comments were very positive but I got a little annoyed at how familiar some of the less positive comments felt. They were all about how slow or confusing the book was, and I mention this here and not the forum because I’ve also seen it with a ton of other books recently (handmaidens tale, the house of sprits, ten thousand doors of January, the vanishing birds and the book eaters among others).
So hot take 1, a slow book does not necessarily mean a bad book because pacing is dependent on the kind of story the author wants to tell. When the point is to show the passage of time or build up an atmosphere it’s actually better.
Hot take 2, soft world building is often better than hard world building because you don’t have to know everything about everything in order to understand the plot or sympathize with the characters. In fact confusion in small doses can be good because it forces you to learn.
Idk if I’m alone here? Just had get that out.
kamilla started reading...

Ancillary Sword (Imperial Radch, #2)
Ann Leckie
kamilla started reading...

The Everlasting
Alix E. Harrow
kamilla finished a book

Raging Clouds
Yudori Yudori
kamilla commented on a post
When will something happennn? I enjoy the vibes and all but till now all of the book just felt like an introduction to something that doesn’t happen
kamilla finished a book

The Memory Police
Yōko Ogawa
kamilla completed their yearly reading goal of 30 books!







kamilla started reading...

Raging Clouds
Yudori Yudori
kamilla finished reading and wrote a review...
I have mixed feelings on this one. The writing wasn’t as good as I wanted it to be and the themes felt pretty ya (not bad but not what I was looking for).* That said I’m happy I read it. I knew nothing about the historical period before this so I learned a lot, and I was surprised at how much of what I learned felt pretty familiar.
*I suspect the thing that separates this from ya is a couple senses show sex so keep that in mind when recommending
Post from the The Parlour Wife forum
So I’m American and as I’ve been reading this I a started to notice a lot of similarities between my country’s history and the history covered in the story.
The book mostly takes place in 1940s Largos, Nigeria which is under British colonial rule until their independence in 1960. There are obvious differences in culture, time period and the treatment of racial injustice but I’m noticing a lot of similar complaints to the American colonies in the decades before our independence in the 1770s. In both cases there’s a war being fought or just concluded that was supposedly to protect the colonists that causes the British to impose new taxes and artificially caped prices without government representation. All of which leads to people struggling, smuggling, protests and eventually escalation and independence.
I find it a so interesting that despite how much changes between the time periods and cultures in question the pattern of colonialism and what motivates people to fight back is still similar.
kamilla commented on a post
I don't know how slow the story will be, but I don't really see the point of including the excerpts of the narrator's novel as part of the book. Generally I'm a little confused as to where this story is going as it is a little slow, hopefully things will pick up once i get to 50%?
kamilla commented on a post
Love the writing so far, it feels so otherworldly by being so vague about the location of the setting. On the other hand everything that's happening feels weirdly realistic. It's also so perceptive of how oppressive police states function.
kamilla commented on a post
kamilla commented on a post
If it's a physical object that has been disappeared, we gather the remnants up to burn, or bury, or toss into the river.
I'm reading the translation by Stephen Snyder but the grammatical awkwardness bothers me so much. Does that bother anyone else ? Is it just me ?
kamilla commented on a post
This book really goes down like butter. It is just SUCH easy listening! I know it's helped by the large text and formatting, so you feel like you're flying through it. But the 4 narrators, the engaging plots, the fascinating world; it's such a joy to read this book and I'm excited to finish and begin the next one tomorrow!
kamilla commented on a post