Post-Wiscon YA reading #5: Nightshade City

[carbonel]

First of all, I should give a caveat: talking animals are a hard sell for me. (Conversely, books in school settings are an easy sell. Not sure how I would feel about talking animals at school.) I loved Watership Down because those were rabbits that acted like rabbits. Charlotte's Web I found disturbing even as a child because if these were sentient animals, they shouldn't be dinner. And the whole story was about saving just one pig's life, not the rest of them. So Nightshade City, by Hilary Wagner, had to be something special for me to like it, because it's about talking rats. And earthworms, for that matter. And not rats that behave like rats -- rats that cook their dinners and dress up in clothing and have really nasty politics. And I didn't find it sufficiently special.

Additionally, this book is a major Bechdel fail. There are perhaps three conversations between female rats in the entire book, and in all of them, the discussion centers around how to get away from the evil male rat that wants to take the young and nubile female rat as a consort.

I managed to finish this book, but I didn't enjoy it. On the other hand, someone who likes beast fables might like this much better than I did.

Comments

[henrytroup.livejournal.com]

I think "rat Bechdel fail" would be an excellent three-word review here.