Book Review: Syncopation: A Novel in Verse
Genre: Sci-Fi
Age: Adult
Format: ebook
WOW! When I was offered the ARC for this, I had zero expectations. I’d never read anything by the author before, but the blurb immediately piqued my curiosity. A memory war? A queer romance? A sky pirate and an earthbound forager facing difficult decisions on a space station? Sign me up! The only thing that made me nervous about the book was the fact it was written in verse. Novels in verse have been a bit hit or miss for me in the past, but this was absolutely brilliant.
Whitney French is an absolute wizard with words. This book is a masterclass in how to wield language to deliver death blows or loving caresses. French revels in not only the sounds of the word, exploring prosody in some truly unique ways, but also regularly plays with shape and formatting to add gravitas to her words and force slower contemplation where a reader might otherwise too easily speed-read through prose and miss all the nuance expertly folded into the meanings like syllabic origami.
As a writer, I found myself constantly in awe of French’s techniques and also truly inspired to take a more poetic approach in my own writing.
I also appreciated that French not only took inspiration from various other media including songs, poems, and art, including from some truly great icons like Octavia Butler and Audre Lorde, but that she clearly delineates these for the reader at the end of the book.
While the fragmented narrative told non-linearly across various poetic forms is a little tricky to piece together in terms of plot, this novel the demands the reader stay present in the moment. The individual poems are stunning, with unique and striking imagery that is highly evocative and atmospheric. What’s important is the now—a theme made explicit in a conversation questioning the value of memory and how maybe we are not actually the sum of our experiences.
I loved our queer lovers, Z and O, and found myself deeply invested in their fascinating if terrifying world that ties together elements of cli-fi, cyberpunk, and dystopian subgenres with an over-arching musical metaphor. This metaphor is frequently revisited and as a musician and music teacher myself, I found the additional layer of meaning the musical word-play and imagery provided particularly exquisite.
In short, while this book may be a more challenging read for many readers—even those used to novels in verse—I truly believe it is worth the effort it takes to weave together the many narrative strands, like melodies woven in counterpoint to create a truly epic symphony
I cannot wait to read more by this author.
Review By Xan van Rooyen
An arc was provided by the author in exchange for honest review.
