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chantaal's Reviews (2.32k)
Last year, Suzan Palumbo's short story collection Skin Thief was a delightful discovery, a solid introduction to her ideas and themes. I really enjoyed it, and was looking forward to more - which is why I jumped at the chance to request this ARC as soon as I saw it, and was thrilled to receive it.
Countess has a great fun premise: take The Count of Monte Cristo, but genderflip it, put it in a sci-fi setting that tackles anti-colonialism from a Caribbean inspired perspective. The idea sounds great, but unfortunately for me the execution didn't quite hit the mark.
The story pretty faithfully follows The Count of Monte Cristo for the first half of the book. Virika is from a Caribbean-inspired planet and joins the colonizing military force, but is framed and locked away for over a decade. Her escape is where things really start to move away from the original story path, leaning a lot more into the anti-colonialism and revolution themes. That is also where things kind of went off the rails for me.
The betrayal and her time in jail all take about half of the book. She's jailed for a decade, which the storytelling kind of glosses over. Then, the entire story of how Virika gains her riches, builds up experience by finding family and love in a revolutionary space crew, leaves them, becomes The Countess and stirs up enough revolutionary zeal to bring the Colonizers to the negotiating table happens in a truly astounding short amount of time in the story, despite these things taking place over YEARS AND YEARS of time. We get no sense of the passing of time, only a sudden line here and there that says how much time has passed and how she's changed. We don't get to SEE Virika grow into her own as the hardened Countess that can take on the Empire, we're just told she is that badass now. It's incredibly disappointing when the whole point of doing a Count of Monte Cristo story IS THE GROWTH AND REVENGE.
Despite my many qualms with the back half of the book, the first half showed SO MUCH promise. I was invested in Virika and her story, which made the pacing and jumps in time later on feel so disappointing. Like I was cheated out of a true emotional arc for her.
I really think this felt like it should have been longer, and given so much more time to breathe. This story needed more room to expand and really showcase Virika's growth into The Countess.
The world Palumbo has created here feels like it could be so much more. It's so full of love for Caribbean culture - food and clothing and accents infuse this sci-fi world with a vibrancy not often seen. I just wish the last half of the story could have lived up to the promise of the first half.
Many, many thanks to ECW Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC. <i>Countess</i> will be released on September 10, 2024.
Countess has a great fun premise: take The Count of Monte Cristo, but genderflip it, put it in a sci-fi setting that tackles anti-colonialism from a Caribbean inspired perspective. The idea sounds great, but unfortunately for me the execution didn't quite hit the mark.
The story pretty faithfully follows The Count of Monte Cristo for the first half of the book. Virika is from a Caribbean-inspired planet and joins the colonizing military force, but is framed and locked away for over a decade. Her escape is where things really start to move away from the original story path, leaning a lot more into the anti-colonialism and revolution themes. That is also where things kind of went off the rails for me.
The betrayal and her time in jail all take about half of the book. She's jailed for a decade, which the storytelling kind of glosses over. Then, the entire story of how Virika gains her riches, builds up experience by finding family and love in a revolutionary space crew, leaves them, becomes The Countess and stirs up enough revolutionary zeal to bring the Colonizers to the negotiating table happens in a truly astounding short amount of time in the story, despite these things taking place over YEARS AND YEARS of time. We get no sense of the passing of time, only a sudden line here and there that says how much time has passed and how she's changed. We don't get to SEE Virika grow into her own as the hardened Countess that can take on the Empire, we're just told she is that badass now. It's incredibly disappointing when the whole point of doing a Count of Monte Cristo story IS THE GROWTH AND REVENGE.
Despite my many qualms with the back half of the book, the first half showed SO MUCH promise. I was invested in Virika and her story, which made the pacing and jumps in time later on feel so disappointing. Like I was cheated out of a true emotional arc for her.
I really think this felt like it should have been longer, and given so much more time to breathe. This story needed more room to expand and really showcase Virika's growth into The Countess.
The world Palumbo has created here feels like it could be so much more. It's so full of love for Caribbean culture - food and clothing and accents infuse this sci-fi world with a vibrancy not often seen. I just wish the last half of the story could have lived up to the promise of the first half.
Many, many thanks to ECW Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC. <i>Countess</i> will be released on September 10, 2024.
When it comes to cozy fantasy, Sarah Beth Durst UNDERSTANDS THE ASSIGNMENT.
This is a wonderfully engaging fantasy novella based on West African mythology. The world building is solid, our main character Ashâke is in turns sympathetic and stubborn, and the unfolding of the mystery of why the Orisha never spoke to Ashâke was great. Very excited for the follow up!
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexual content, Transphobia, Blood, Religious bigotry
Moderate: Sexual assault, Pregnancy
Minor: Rape
DNF @ page whatever I was on. This didn't work for me so much so that I can't even explain what little I read.
I’m so glad that I’ve somehow managed to go my entire life without being spoiled for this mystery. What a delight.
