Review: Flawed but worth reading
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 11 28, 2013
Politics do not greatly interest me, so about a third of the book flew straight over my head because I couldn't be bothered to write down the names of the different organizations or remember their functions. I got the big idea; bad guy killing artists. I don't know enough about the social circles involved to feel that that premise was eminently reasonable; it seemed like an awfully complicated way to make money, and more malicious than necessary, but maybe I was missing something about the villain's motive.Part of that may be due to the autistic-protagonist POV used throughout the novel. Due to her focus preferences, ordinary people don't get to bring their own "filters" to the party. So there's an odd feeling throughout, as the author tries to stay true to autistic perceptions without losing the audience. This is not necessarily a bad thing. I just felt like, in a way, I was always missing something. Maybe that's what it's like, tailing a genius. There was too much dialogue, but I'm good at skimming.I want to know what I have to do to have four great guys fighting over the right to protect me. =p Characterization and character interaction are what kept me reading through the political and shipping jargon. Most of the characters are well done, flawed, likable in different ways. The villains you don't see much of, so they are flatter.Content concerns: some mild language and physical violence, offscreen murders (hey it's the genre) but nothing graphic. The protoganist tells someone that she has/does sleep with men; I can hardly believe that given that she can barely stand to be touched. Context implies she isn't lying, but she doesn't do it anywhere in the book, so she must be talking about the past.A worthwhile read despite its flaws, unless you read slowly and don't want to wade through all the conversations.