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A review by sauvageloup
Nemesis by Rory Clements
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
2.0
A decent book, but not entirely my cup of tea, probably wouldn't have read it if my dad hadn't given it to me.
Pros:
- I was genuinely curious about who Marcus Marfield was as the story progressed and little bits were revealed about him.
- the setting was pretty interesting and there had clearly been a good deal of research. I could definitely draw some parallels between then and Covid with people hoarding food, the newspapers going back and forth, the "war" of propaganda, the xenophobia towards certain people, etc.
- the writing is pretty decent and the plot trots along okay. It was genuinely gripping in times of turmoil, esp nearer the end.
- the side story with the Vanderburgs didn't seem to have a huge amount of relevance, but I enjoyed it all the same.
Cons:
- it was a bit predictable, and the 'a race against time to unmask a Nazi spy' on the front didn't help. It was meant to be tense about whether or not Marfield was a victim or an enemy and yet the cover gives it away.
- Biggest disappoint was Marfield being gay or bi (not quite made clear) and this being fairly neutrally received, and then he's revealed to be a cold-blood, baby-killing, Nazi psychopath who tries to rape (or succeeds? It wasn't 100% clear) another man. Oh and Tripp, the other dandy and probably gay man, is also implied to be pro-Hitler, and the choir master who was in lust with Marfield is a traitor who betrays his country to harbour a Nazi killer. Really great queer rep... not. Would have honestly rather there had been no gays at all.
- this point isn't the book's fault but I'm just not that into reading books about world war one and two. There's been too much media on them already, and they're incredibly sad. So it's not really my thing.
- the writing wasn't that gripping for me, either, partly because it felt a bit predictable, partly because it kept hopping all over the place, and partly because I didn't hugely care for Lydia or Wiles.
Overall, it was a fair read but I did consider DNF it around the 1/3 part. The shitty queer rep was the absolute worst part tho :/
Pros:
- I was genuinely curious about who Marcus Marfield was as the story progressed and little bits were revealed about him.
- the setting was pretty interesting and there had clearly been a good deal of research. I could definitely draw some parallels between then and Covid with people hoarding food, the newspapers going back and forth, the "war" of propaganda, the xenophobia towards certain people, etc.
- the writing is pretty decent and the plot trots along okay. It was genuinely gripping in times of turmoil, esp nearer the end.
- the side story with the Vanderburgs didn't seem to have a huge amount of relevance, but I enjoyed it all the same.
Cons:
- it was a bit predictable, and the 'a race against time to unmask a Nazi spy' on the front didn't help. It was meant to be tense about whether or not Marfield was a victim or an enemy and yet the cover gives it away.
- this point isn't the book's fault but I'm just not that into reading books about world war one and two. There's been too much media on them already, and they're incredibly sad. So it's not really my thing.
- the writing wasn't that gripping for me, either, partly because it felt a bit predictable, partly because it kept hopping all over the place, and partly because I didn't hugely care for Lydia or Wiles.
Overall, it was a fair read but I did consider DNF it around the 1/3 part. The shitty queer rep was the absolute worst part tho :/
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, and Gun violence
Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual violence