![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kaberett[masterpost of reviews]
Okay, I am going to start by saying this: I am currently on a specfic/urban fantasy kick, and I don't particularly care for cricket.
The Zoya Factor is a 500-page book (approximately) about cricket.
The first time I burst out in delighted cackles was at the top of page two, and I kept on laughing all the way through.
I mean -- yes, I got a little irritated the fourth time round the Not-So-Merry-Go-Round of "does he/doesn't he" and the complete failure to Believe People When They Are Using Their Words, but fundamentally: this is a 500-page book about cricket and I read it in one sitting.
Of course it isn't so much about cricket as using cricket as a backdrop; it's a rom-com and it's about family and class and confidence and poking fun at the idea of thee Standing in thee Society while simultaneously acknowledging how serious that stuff is; it's about teenagers screwing up and hating themselves out of all proportion; it's about chosen family; it's about luck and hard work; it's about Never Read The Comments (no, really); it's about ethics and integrity and working out what the right thing might look like and what your motivations for your actions are.
Its handling of sexuality and gender (both very much in passing) made me wince a bit - there's some "yes yes auntie is homophobic" but no actual queer characters, just a lot of "no of COURSE he's not gay", plus some slightly icky (from my perspective) PoV-character stuff on transvestites and hijra - and I also flinched a little at the casual use of "crazy" and "lame", but on the whole? Yeah, I recommend this enthusiastically.
Okay, I am going to start by saying this: I am currently on a specfic/urban fantasy kick, and I don't particularly care for cricket.
The Zoya Factor is a 500-page book (approximately) about cricket.
The first time I burst out in delighted cackles was at the top of page two, and I kept on laughing all the way through.
I mean -- yes, I got a little irritated the fourth time round the Not-So-Merry-Go-Round of "does he/doesn't he" and the complete failure to Believe People When They Are Using Their Words, but fundamentally: this is a 500-page book about cricket and I read it in one sitting.
Of course it isn't so much about cricket as using cricket as a backdrop; it's a rom-com and it's about family and class and confidence and poking fun at the idea of thee Standing in thee Society while simultaneously acknowledging how serious that stuff is; it's about teenagers screwing up and hating themselves out of all proportion; it's about chosen family; it's about luck and hard work; it's about Never Read The Comments (no, really); it's about ethics and integrity and working out what the right thing might look like and what your motivations for your actions are.
Its handling of sexuality and gender (both very much in passing) made me wince a bit - there's some "yes yes auntie is homophobic" but no actual queer characters, just a lot of "no of COURSE he's not gay", plus some slightly icky (from my perspective) PoV-character stuff on transvestites and hijra - and I also flinched a little at the casual use of "crazy" and "lame", but on the whole? Yeah, I recommend this enthusiastically.
(no subject)
Date: 2014-05-13 02:16 pm (UTC)