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A review by faeryhne
Acts of Service by Lillian Fishman
2.0
This came so close to being a delicious read, but just left me wanting on all the themes it tried to explore
Rating: 2/5 ✰
Background:
An exploration of sexuality and gender dynamics that the author apparently wanted to be cerebral and subversive, this ended up being sooo disappointing and shallow. On first glance, I thought the mixed reviews might be because of the subject matter and unlikable main character, concepts which I tend to enjoy. I was incredibly excited for this book, and it really started off strong. I kept thinking the author would surprise me eventually, and that all the buildup would have a satisfying payoff, but none of those things ever happened. Everything was predictable, and rewording a dialogue over and over again doesn't make it any more interesting later - you have to actually add new content for that.
Characters:
The narrator, Eve, lives a boring life where she never challenges herself and generally tries to stay within her comfort zone. She considers herself a lesbian, and never actually stops describing herself that way, but this is definitely an exploration of bisexuality and the differences between having relationships with men and with women (or both at the same time). There are certain things that feel like they should be more meaningful, like her preferred description for her sexuality not actually matching her ideology or actions, but all of these aspects just got skimmed over in favor of... randomly heteronormative talking points? Repetitive conversations about feminism and power dynamics? Whether morality should be attached to sexuality between consenting partners? Any of these concepts could have been well done, maybe thought-provoking in a controversial way, but it just felt so stale.
Speaking of stale, I thought there would be more to explore with Nathan. Since he's this sort of catalyst for Eve and Olivia (a supposed important part of the dynamic who is endlessly pushed out of the story by the way), I thought his talking points with Eve might be a bit more nuanced or interesting. He tended to just repeat the same lines over and over again though, even in parts where it's supposed to feel like a different conversation, which made a lot of the important turning points in Eve's mindset feel random and undeserved. It could be argued that therein lies the point - he could be anyone because the growth comes from within her, and the truth is he's actually an incredibly boring person - but for a supposedly subversive and intellectually challenging book that sure would be one of the least interesting options to choose.
Closing thoughts:
Shallow, forgettable, lame, I feel like I got edged (not in a fun way). Might add more polish to this review later, but for now I just wanted to get some of the thoughts out. At least it's a pretty book so it looks good wherever I end up storing it away.
Rating: 2/5 ✰
Background:
An exploration of sexuality and gender dynamics that the author apparently wanted to be cerebral and subversive, this ended up being sooo disappointing and shallow. On first glance, I thought the mixed reviews might be because of the subject matter and unlikable main character, concepts which I tend to enjoy. I was incredibly excited for this book, and it really started off strong. I kept thinking the author would surprise me eventually, and that all the buildup would have a satisfying payoff, but none of those things ever happened. Everything was predictable, and rewording a dialogue over and over again doesn't make it any more interesting later - you have to actually add new content for that.
Characters:
The narrator, Eve, lives a boring life where she never challenges herself and generally tries to stay within her comfort zone. She considers herself a lesbian, and never actually stops describing herself that way, but this is definitely an exploration of bisexuality and the differences between having relationships with men and with women (or both at the same time). There are certain things that feel like they should be more meaningful, like her preferred description for her sexuality not actually matching her ideology or actions, but all of these aspects just got skimmed over in favor of... randomly heteronormative talking points? Repetitive conversations about feminism and power dynamics? Whether morality should be attached to sexuality between consenting partners? Any of these concepts could have been well done, maybe thought-provoking in a controversial way, but it just felt so stale.
Speaking of stale, I thought there would be more to explore with Nathan. Since he's this sort of catalyst for Eve and Olivia (a supposed important part of the dynamic who is endlessly pushed out of the story by the way), I thought his talking points with Eve might be a bit more nuanced or interesting. He tended to just repeat the same lines over and over again though, even in parts where it's supposed to feel like a different conversation, which made a lot of the important turning points in Eve's mindset feel random and undeserved. It could be argued that therein lies the point - he could be anyone because the growth comes from within her, and the truth is he's actually an incredibly boring person - but for a supposedly subversive and intellectually challenging book that sure would be one of the least interesting options to choose.
Closing thoughts:
Shallow, forgettable, lame, I feel like I got edged (not in a fun way). Might add more polish to this review later, but for now I just wanted to get some of the thoughts out. At least it's a pretty book so it looks good wherever I end up storing it away.