- 4 stars
- Release date: 25th May
- Buy on Amazon
I’d heard so many good things about this book and I was really looking forward to it and I really did want this to be a 5 star
I loved how it gripped you right from the start, the book felt quite short but covered a few years and sometimes it felt like some bits were really rushed through and suddenly we were several months later. And I had to reread parts a couple of time because I thought I’d missed bits.
Rating this one has been really hard (I started this review with it as a low 3 star but have upped it to 4), I’m not sure if it’s the unlikeable characters in it – although that’s the point that they’re not likeable. It gives a great insight into the publishing world, but will make you scour your books looking for diversity (not tokenism). It’s an uncomfortable read as the main character June Hayward adopts the ambiguous moniker Juniper Song after she steals her friend’s, Athena Liu, manuscript after her death, literally right after her death. June becomes a bestseller but it all starts to fall apart as people question her ethnicity and relationship with Athena and then she starts seeing Athena or her ghost…
It deals with twitter pile-ons and cancel culture, tokenism, and the attempted rationalisation of what was done and consequential actions throughout.
I think what let it down, for me, was the twist and again how rushed that was, but the last few pages pulled me back into it and June’s thoughts after it.
I really do think everyone should read this, it makes you think, it’s a great insight into unconscious (and frequently very conscious) bias. It can be an uncomfortable read in parts.
I will be thinking about it for a while and really look forward to reading more reviews when it’s released.