30 Books in 30 Days, Vol. 4
Book 2/30
DNF @ 30%
I gave it the ole college try, as none of the kids say these days. But this book was not for me! I’m really sad about it, because the gritty 70s NYC atmosphere, the love of comics built in to it, and the MC being a queer daughter of Cuban immigrants trying to make it in comics publishing all really sounded like something I would love, but this book was so dull.
What it comes down to is the writing style. It didn’t really HAVE a style, in my opinion. Just pretty bland, often telling not showing, prose. I am getting less and less patient about mediocre books, and not forcing myself through them if they are not holding my attention, and that is what has happened here. I’m really glad that I didn’t end up paying full price for this (I think I got it for like $5 on Book Outlet last year).
This book takes a risk that unfortunately didn’t succeed (at least in my opinion; obviously) in having quite large sections of the book being taken up by a fake comic book written by the MC, and the comic was . . . not great. I can see how this book was published, because it was an interesting idea with some unique aspects, but I can also see why it hasn’t really taken off, either.
I will say, this is supposedly a mystery book, but by the time I DNFed, the mystery hadn’t even really gotten started, so I have no idea if that aspect of the book would have saved it for me. I really wasn’t interested in sticking around to find out.