First of all, I must apologise for the lateness of this post. I had almost finished the book, but not quite, so I decided to read to the end so that I could write a post this week. Yes, I only managed to read one book this week!

An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon

The book was An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon. I chose this at random from our Library’s ebook service. This is the blurb:

Odd-mannered, obsessive, withdrawn, Aster has little to offer folks in the way of rebuttal when they call her ogre and freak. She’s used to the names; she only wishes there was more truth to them. If she were truly a monster, as they accuse, she’d be powerful enough to tear down the walls around her until nothing remained of her world, save for stories told around the cookfire.

Aster lives in the low-deck slums of the HSS Matilda, a space vessel organized much like the antebellum South. For generations, the Matilda has ferried the last of humanity to a mythical Promised Land. On its way, the ship’s leaders have imposed harsh moral restrictions and deep indignities on dark-skinned sharecroppers like Aster, who they consider to be less than human.

When the autopsy of Matilda‘s sovereign reveals a surprising link between his death and her mother’s suicide some quarter-century before, Aster retraces her mother’s footsteps. Embroiled in a grudge with a brutal overseer and sowing the seeds of civil war, Aster learns there may be a way off the ship if she’s willing to fight for it.

And here is my one star review on the Goodreads website:

An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I have just read some of the reviews and thoughts written here by other readers. Loads of full five and four stars given. Lots of top-notch reviews.

And here are my thoughts.

First of all: why on earth did I force myself to read the whole book? Recently, I decided that I would not make myself read something that made me struggle or that I wasn’t enjoying. So, I am puzzled with my motivation. I suppose that I felt I had to finish. The unrelenting misery made me feel that I somehow owed (who?) someone the full read. Such total misery.

So, other readers may like or even love the book and that is completely fine for them. I, however, wish that I hadn’t spent some of my limited reading time left on the book!

Well, I am being honest.

View all my reviews

Yet again, I must add that many other readers highly rate this book. It simply didn’t work for me. I think that the unrelenting bleakness of the story, plus the lack of likeable characters, wasn’t right for my present state of mind. I need some positivity at the moment.

It might just be the right book for you, on the other hand. After all, that is the wonder and beauty of books. I firmly believe that there is something out there for everyone!

Happy Reading to you all!

Love and best wishes,

Anne

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