I finished Malorie Blackman's Naughts and Crosses a little while ago, but I've been trying to formulate a coherent review since then. The premise is that in the world of this book, Crosses (who are black) are the ruling majority, and naughts (who are white) are looked down upon as the inferior race. The concept really interested me, but when I finally got my hands on the book (I had to pick it up in England, since I couldn't find it here in the US), I had mixed feelings. I'll start with the positives:
The message the book is trying to convey is a very important one. I think the book gives the reader an idea of all the complexities of racism -- for example, how easy it is to sustain stereotypes even when you don't think you're doing so. I think it would be a great read for anyone who has not experienced racism firsthand, because you really feel the injustice. There were definitely parts where I wanted to stab almost every character...
The ending was also very powerful. I won't say what happens, but it took balls to end the novel that way. It definitely had a strong emotional impact on me. Kudos to Blackman for that. However...
The beginning was painful. I spent weeks trying to get into this, and constantly put it back down after a page or two. The dialogue felt unrealistic and forced, the interactions between the two main characters were unbelievable, and for the first 100 pages, the novel just felt transparently preachy. I was on the verge of stopping reading this altogether a couple times. I'm glad I didn't, because I feel like around the middle of the book, the plot picked up and the characters started to become more real and sympathetic. But that first half really put me off. That could just be my perspective though... Anyone else read this one, or care to pitch in?
heh I wholeheartedly agree with this review. The beginning was soooooooooooo slllllloooooooowwwwwwwww. ugh. And the whole time I felt the novel was preachy and transparent. You explained far better than I did as to why I didn't like it. I'm not even sure if I'll read the rest of the books in the series. I feel like I should, but I might not.
ReplyDeleteI also thought that while the ending was good, it was overshadowed by how melodramatic everything was. Nothing happy every happened and it just got tiring.
I agree, I think the ending would have had even more impact if the MCs had had a brief respite from constant suckitude. Giving them a taste of happiness and stealing it away would be even more painful?
ReplyDeleteBut yeah, I think my biggest issue with this book was that the author focused too much on the theme. Themes are important, and they should underlie the story in a novel. But there has to be an engaging, three-dimensional story layered overtop that theme to make it a good read... If that makes sense
I read this book years back, and I greatly enjoyed it. I do remember the beginning being a bit slow, but I loved the theme so much, I had a difficult time putting it down.
ReplyDeleteWow just saw this comment, my bad! But you are so right, a 'respite from constant suckitude' was much-needed. Right if something happy had happened, I probably would have felt less apathetic about their plight.
ReplyDeleteIt makes very good sense (how's that for incorrect?), if a story is just one big moral lesson than it should just be non-fiction but if the book is going to be a novel, there needs to be dynamic characters with an interesting plot.