The Alice Network

Not Even a 5 Star Narrator Can Save This Story

The Narrator:

It’s not surprising that Saskia Maarleveld has been nominated for a Audie for her performance here: the story would be completely lost without the strength of her performance. Personally, I disliked the voice she chose for the main character (an American girl); however, it was a case in which it was very challenging to distinguish between the way the character was written and the performance (i.e. I’m not sure the character could’ve been performed in a more agreeable manner). Still, that is just a personal preference, and there is no denying the talent she brought to the book as a whole: clear, distinct voices that really evoked the characters, and good management of characters of both sexes. In short: pretty much everything you’d hope for in a solid narrator.

The Characters – Meet Some 2D Stereotypes

I happily identify as a feminist and believe strongly that women should have equal rights and opportunities as men; however, one of the first things that hit me in this book was the heavy-handed helpings of *anachronistic* feminism. I don’t think a woman has to walk around with a perpetually indignant inner monologue – as the main character does – to be in favour of women’s equality. But this again is a personal preference – not enough to dismiss a book.

So I persevered in the listening, despite finding the main character pretty whiney, only to be disappointed at yet another poor stereotyping of a group; this time: mathematicians. Kate Quinn has conflated the field of mathematics with that of arithmetic. She has her character – who is supposed to be a burgeoning “mathematician” – go around summing up the world in positively jejune mathematical metaphors (e.g. “Me plus my best friend equals all the happiness in the world”; “This crazy old lady plus a gun minus any reason to hold back equals a completely unpredictable situation” etc etc). Oh, but of course, she’s a math student – so she’s *really* good with numbers: can add up a column of numbers that she sees from across the table, in her head, instantly, without error. I know that many people probably still conflate math with arithmetic, but basically once you hit algebra, the numbers start to go, and you can be a brilliant mathematician and still need a calculator to figure out what to leave as a tip.

To be clear, it’s not just that this identity is “wrong”, it’s that it’s simplistic and shallow: it perpetuates a pathetically thin view of how a human being (supposedly a real human being, with many different interests, hobbies etc) may see the world. Strike two for me. But still… the story had some interest.

SPIES!

I reached a point where I was able to stomach the whiney protagonist and the unimaginative stereotyping of a mathematician, and the plot started go some where with the stories of the 1st and 2nd world wars etc. It became the kind of story that you can listen to while doing something else (like math ;D) and you didn’t need to worry about following closely, because the dialogue was trite and largely unimportant, but the story itself became interesting: I had hope. I thought “this is great – exactly the listen I needed right now” (I had a lot of math to do, you see). But then…

SEX

Yes, our feminist-mathematician driven story finds a way to weave lots of gratuitous sex and talk about sex throughout the novel. The protagonist betrays absolutely no inclination towards being unusually sexually active (for this time, in history) and then, quite suddenly, you learn she is literally sleeping with entire frat houses. Again, I don’t have a problem with sex or women who have lots of it – but there’s just no consistency in the character. Ms. Quinn just seems to have them do whatever she feels is necessary to move her story forward. It was at this point that it felt like I was reading a book intended for some very specific audience of sex-starved women who want to see the world in a very simplistic manner. This was about 2/3rds of the way through & it was a crash and burn from there (though I held out hope until the end).

& MORE STEREOTYPES

Was there a rough-around-the-edges, tough-guy who didn’t talk much but had a charming accent, who was actually super sensitive and passionate? Yes there was.

Was there an “evil man” who’s person represented all the badness of the entire world and the horrors of war, but did not have any clear motivation for his truly grotesque and horrendous actions? Yes.

Did said “bad man” perform savage acts of torture (described at length) without any clear motivation? Absolutely. Did it add to the story – only for shock value.

Was there a world-weary, disenchanted old woman who was also rough-around-the-edges but went through a magical transformation and became a loving godmother? Oh yes there was.

Were all the characters somehow “broken” and magically healed of life-long, (really!) serious problems (like severe alcoholism and a tendency towards assault that verges on the murderous) just through the power of meeting each other – pretty much, yeah.

IN SHORT:

Obviously I don’t think this book is worth your time or your money (or I wouldn’t have taken the time to write all of this): there are better options out there if you’re looking for actual literature, or an engaging story, or stories of the heroism of women in the 1st and 2nd world wars etc. & I got this during a sale – not even recommended as a daily deal.

If what you’re looking for is a book you can doze off to at the beach while listening without worrying about having to go back, then this one will do the trick, but even then there are better options.

Whatever you choose, I hope you find a good read 🙂