Rating: 4/5
Review:
Good, with some flaws
I enjoyed much of this book, but I thought it had its
weaknesses.
The narrative is (almost inevitably these days) in a
fractured timescale, with the first person narrative of protagonist known as
"Zoo," who is alone in wooded land, believing she is still a
contestant in an endurance reality TV show.
The other is in the third person
and recounts the earlier development of the reality show, in which we learn
very early that a mysterious illness kills huge numbers of people, including
many of the TV team, that Zoo is in fact on her own and what she believes to be
artifice is in fact real.
It's an intriguing set-up and works well in some ways. Zoo is an engaging, believable character and
I found her story and narrative gripping and interesting. Post-apocalyptic survival is a well-worn
theme and there are familiar echoes here, but Oliva writes well and the story
seems fresh and genuinely human.
I was less keen on the rather long, slow set-up story of the
reality show. Oliva makes a lot of
important, telling points about the manipulative dishonesty and cynicism of
TV's treatment of people and about the public response to it, but the
unendingly cynical tone got a little wearing, and the large cast of rather
thinly-drawn characters didn't really engage me much. I think it would have been better to
concentrate on Zoo herself, because during these passages Oliva shows that she
is a very capable writer and she offers some good psychological and
sociological insights.
I still enjoyed the book and found it pretty involving, so
despite my reservations I can recommend it as a good read with some valuable
things to say.
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