Member Review
Review by
Sara B, Reviewer
The Way of the Cicadas by Audrey Henley.
Thank you Netgalley for the ARC ebook for an unbiased review.
This was a book that on the face of it, I should've loved from start to finish. It was touted as an adult dystopian LGBTQIA novel. Sadly, the blurb was better than the book presented. It felt more a YA book, and as for LGBTQIA content, while there was a minor nod towards some, it was so minor, so inconsequential to the story as a whole, it really shouldn't be pushing that aspect in an attempt to gain readers.
Where did it go wrong? I'm not sure. Some parts of the book were interesting enough. But I began to find my concentration wavering about half way through, and while there some moments that towards the end kept my attention, it all rather fell flat.
I had difficulty in having any great connection to any of the characters. I don't expect to necessarily find connections to every character in a book, but here I simply found I couldn't care enough about main characters involved, beyond a mild curiosity as to what happens.
A book that wasn't the worst, but it always felt middle of the road in amongst some exceptionally great books in this genre. Also publishers, the LGBTQIA community is not here to be used as a marketing ploy on books that really have nothing of real value to offer us. That hasn't been a reason for my choice of rating, but do not read this book if you expect solid LGBTQIA representation.
3/5 stars
Thank you Netgalley for the ARC ebook for an unbiased review.
This was a book that on the face of it, I should've loved from start to finish. It was touted as an adult dystopian LGBTQIA novel. Sadly, the blurb was better than the book presented. It felt more a YA book, and as for LGBTQIA content, while there was a minor nod towards some, it was so minor, so inconsequential to the story as a whole, it really shouldn't be pushing that aspect in an attempt to gain readers.
Where did it go wrong? I'm not sure. Some parts of the book were interesting enough. But I began to find my concentration wavering about half way through, and while there some moments that towards the end kept my attention, it all rather fell flat.
I had difficulty in having any great connection to any of the characters. I don't expect to necessarily find connections to every character in a book, but here I simply found I couldn't care enough about main characters involved, beyond a mild curiosity as to what happens.
A book that wasn't the worst, but it always felt middle of the road in amongst some exceptionally great books in this genre. Also publishers, the LGBTQIA community is not here to be used as a marketing ploy on books that really have nothing of real value to offer us. That hasn't been a reason for my choice of rating, but do not read this book if you expect solid LGBTQIA representation.
3/5 stars
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