The Curator

I decided to read [b:The Curator|61273856|The Curator|Owen King|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1678035770l/61273856._SY75_.jpg|95618428] as I was highly intrigued by the setting and concept: a former maid taking over a museum after a worker's revolution in a fantasy city. This sounded brilliant, but unfortunately the execution didn't live up to the ideas. First of all, Dora the maid-turned-curator may ostensibly be the main character, but the narrative is only interested in her relationships with men (notably her brother, her boyfriend, and a guy she befriends). Her personality remains an enigma throughout, while the reader gets much deeper insight into the male protagonists. Neither does she get show more to participate in the revolution or take much initiative; until near the end events basically happen to her because of men. It's always a shame when a male author doesn't know what to do with a female main character.

I also found the worldbuilding a bit underwhelming, as it doesn't completely cohere despite various appealing elements. The unnamed city has late Victorian technology (electric lights starting to supplant gaslights), cholera outbreaks due to inadequate sanitation, a little bit of magic, two moons, and a religion that worships cats (a detail I liked a lot). This city isn't London or Paris, as both are mentioned as elsewhere, but is situated off the coast of continental Europe and seemingly uses American money (quarters are mentioned). Could it be in fantasy Ireland or Scotland? There's no distinctive weather, language, or any identifiable markers of national culture, presumably for deliberate fantastical effect. I found this slightly annoying, as it made the city harder to visualise. Morover, a fantasy reimagining of the Paris Commune or imagining of a Manchester Commune would have been brilliant. The class dynamics are nonetheless done quite well, until an evil wizard renders them all moot.

The twist that an evil wizard masterminded the revolution in order that it would be crushed is so much less interesting than the much messier reality of revolutions. Then its miraculous revival after the wizard dies and a bunch of wax mannequins animated by ghosts join seemed a bit too convenient. On the other hand, I loved the spooky detail that Dora's museum was being warped by other worlds via proximity to the wizard's magic door. It's certainly creepy when you realise a tableau about nuclear weapons has manifested. The weirdness of the vengeful morgue ship ghosts also works pretty well, although the ghost characters are given very limited character traits prior to their deaths. Similarly, I found it comical that Antony has no character traits whatsoever except 'murderer'. We never learn his real name or motivations; he just acts as a convenient waste disposal system for characters with no further narrative purpose. A tough job but someone's gotta do it, apparently.

Dora's ending likewise struck me as absurd. After stabbing Antony to death, which is impressive, she leaves the city with her tedious posh boyfriend Robert. The reader already knows that he's ashamed of her background in service and mostly likes her because she doesn't talk about herself or require anything of him. More importantly, Robert had a run-in with Antony and is now an undead wax mannequin topped with a blood-dripping severed head! This is taking love conquers all to farcical extremes. Indeed, it's so silly that it amused more than annoyed me. At least Ike and his adopted children survived, as they were the most appealing characters.

I did consider giving [b:The Curator|61273856|The Curator|Owen King|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1678035770l/61273856._SY75_.jpg|95618428] two rather than three stars for not executing a great idea very well, but it wasn't as much of a letdown nor as long as solidly two-star [b:Mordew|53438794|Mordew (Cities of the Weft, #1)|Alex Pheby|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1589813330l/53438794._SY75_.jpg|83091037]. Also I liked all the cats especially when they ate the evil wizard at the end. I can't say I recommend [b:The Curator|61273856|The Curator|Owen King|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1678035770l/61273856._SY75_.jpg|95618428] despite its excellent premise, so would suggest [b:The Last Days of New Paris|41017647|The Last Days of New Paris|China Miéville|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1533085252l/41017647._SY75_.jpg|45970777], [b:Dream London|18886797|Dream London (The Dream World, #1)|Tony Ballantyne|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1404962678l/18886797._SY75_.jpg|24286314], [b:The Honours|21947239|The Honours|Tim Clare|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1434369719l/21947239._SY75_.jpg|41252195], and [b:A Country of Ghosts|58564202|A Country of Ghosts (Black Dawn, #2)|Margaret Killjoy|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1626390942l/58564202._SX50_.jpg|39884746] instead for fiction about fantastical European cities, evil wizards going through magic doors, and workers revolutions. show less

This is such an odd book - set in an alternate universe, similar to Victorian London, this book follows a nameless city (nicknamed Fairest, but never named) in the midst of a revolution. It follows different people from beggar children to college students turned revolutionaries. And, it all something to do with the strange museum that burnt down, but the only person who knows this is a D, a maid who is not what she seems. Oh, and this book has cats. Lots and lots cats. However, these cats, while mysterious and integral to the story, are probably the most cat like cats in a book in a very long time.

As for the book itself, it took me a while to get into it - I was expecting a more magic, less revolution. But after awhile, the 'magic' show more made an appearance, and it was considerably more subdued than I was expecting. I would describe this is a quiet story, the main character is capable, but keeps her head down. She does what is needed. Of course, the setting isn't quiet, its full of casual violence, people die, there's a ghost morgue ship floating around, collecting those that die unnaturally. The revolution isn't bloodless, oh, and the serial killer next door is a very scary person. show less

After a slow start with way too much exposition, I almost gave up on this one. I did finally get pulled into the weirdness of this world. Fable? Perhaps to tell us that all revolutions are ultimately corrupt? Don’t trust a cat? I was impressed at how King finally pulled it all together after teetering on the edge for so much of it. 3.75

No one is more bummed about my 1 star review than me. I wanted to love this, I did. I read and read and hoped to pull a story together. But I just couldn't find a way to tie the stories together or find a plot to really follow. There was such a huge cast - and each new intro'd person we suddenly got the next chapter of their POV. It was confusing and I kept losing who were my main players and what we were fighting for. Each section felt like a different story and, even now that I've gotten to the end, I'm not sure I ever pulled it all together. I will definitely give this one another go again, since I own the hardcover, but my first go through was a disappointing.

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via show more Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book. show less

No rating. DNF.

When nothing happens aside from a murder, and the murder is delivered in such a dull manner, I'm out.

Didn’t much care for it.