The characters are cute, I appreciate the attempt to create a world (two worlds, actually) where art has practical value, and there’s a big central mystery, but to make it all work, the plot becomes super convoluted and nonsensical… It’s so convoluted that there is one chapter where you get the big reveal, and then another chapter right after, which feels tacked on, that has the narrator explaining what happened: something along the lines of, “if you’re totally lost and didn’t get what just happened, let me, the narrator explain it to you.” This just doesn’t work. It’s a bit like a joke: if you have to explain it, it isn’t funny.
Rating: 3 stars
Yevgeniy Brikman
If you enjoyed this post, you may also like my books. If you need help with DevOps, reach out to me at Gruntwork.