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A review by ghost_smoke
Deny All Charges by Eoin Colfer
3.0
It pains me to rate this less than 5 stars, as I am a huge fan of the Artemis Fowl series and Eoin Colfer. By all means, this is a great addition to the series. However, this one had some really strange shortcomings, regarding race, language, and culture.
There was a larger than necessary focus on Lazuli being mixed, or in their vocabulary, a "hybrid". She has faced a lot ot hardship and alienation due to her being a hybrid, and the way they explore it is really weird for me to read, as I am an actual mixed person.
They first have one character sort of romanticize/fetishize the idea of being mixed, and Lazuli acts grateful for it. While in reality, in my personal experience (and I would think most mixed people feel this way) I just want to be treated normally. Not romanticized or fetishized, not disparaged. Just normal. Being fetishized is almost as uncomfortable as being disparaged, cause it's a reminder that many people seem to be unable to just see you as a person. It's either "you're exotic, and the future of mankind" or "you're disgusting and the downfall of mankind". Neither of these are good.
They then proceed to have a scene with Angeline Fowl, a white woman in a predominantly white community, try to relate to Lazuli being a hybrid. She compares her being half Russian descent and Irish descent as a sort of equivalent, despite the fact that Angeline comes from a privileged background. There has never been any indication of her having a struggle over being Russian/Irish, but she compares this to Lazuli experiencing systemic racism. And for some reason, Lazuli instantly trusts her because of this comment.
I would feel so weird if I met someone, they noticed I was mixed, and then they immediately had to comment on it. In fact, I've had this happen. It's weird. For people who aren't mixed, imagine someone walking up to you and immediately going "Oh! You're white! I see white people on TV, and some white people go to my church. I want you to know white people are valid and cool!". It's insanely awkward.
There are also many moments where in the narration, they have to keep reminding you that she's a hybrid, and pointing out how other people are kind of hybrids too. But the comparisons are never equivalent, and it unfortunately reads like what is: a white guy trying really hard to make a statement about race related issues he's never had to experience.
There's also a heavy emphasis this time around on fairy accents, and some being described as painful to listen to because they speak English badly. Which is so weird, cause I don't remember fairy accents ever being a topic in the original series, and especially not in a disparaging way. The idea of cringing or grinding your teeth over someone's struggle speaking English feels weird.
This was still a good read, but man it had a lot of weird moments. It makes me feel a bit differently about the first volume, since the first volume centered a spanish bad guy who was constantly talking in fakey spanish and broken english. I kind of gave it a pass the first time around, but with all of the weird stuff in this one... I dunno. Feels uncomfortable. Also, Myishi isn't a Japanese name. Couldn't he just google Japanese names before naming his character?
There was a larger than necessary focus on Lazuli being mixed, or in their vocabulary, a "hybrid". She has faced a lot ot hardship and alienation due to her being a hybrid, and the way they explore it is really weird for me to read, as I am an actual mixed person.
They first have one character sort of romanticize/fetishize the idea of being mixed, and Lazuli acts grateful for it. While in reality, in my personal experience (and I would think most mixed people feel this way) I just want to be treated normally. Not romanticized or fetishized, not disparaged. Just normal. Being fetishized is almost as uncomfortable as being disparaged, cause it's a reminder that many people seem to be unable to just see you as a person. It's either "you're exotic, and the future of mankind" or "you're disgusting and the downfall of mankind". Neither of these are good.
They then proceed to have a scene with Angeline Fowl, a white woman in a predominantly white community, try to relate to Lazuli being a hybrid. She compares her being half Russian descent and Irish descent as a sort of equivalent, despite the fact that Angeline comes from a privileged background. There has never been any indication of her having a struggle over being Russian/Irish, but she compares this to Lazuli experiencing systemic racism. And for some reason, Lazuli instantly trusts her because of this comment.
I would feel so weird if I met someone, they noticed I was mixed, and then they immediately had to comment on it. In fact, I've had this happen. It's weird. For people who aren't mixed, imagine someone walking up to you and immediately going "Oh! You're white! I see white people on TV, and some white people go to my church. I want you to know white people are valid and cool!". It's insanely awkward.
There are also many moments where in the narration, they have to keep reminding you that she's a hybrid, and pointing out how other people are kind of hybrids too. But the comparisons are never equivalent, and it unfortunately reads like what is: a white guy trying really hard to make a statement about race related issues he's never had to experience.
There's also a heavy emphasis this time around on fairy accents, and some being described as painful to listen to because they speak English badly. Which is so weird, cause I don't remember fairy accents ever being a topic in the original series, and especially not in a disparaging way. The idea of cringing or grinding your teeth over someone's struggle speaking English feels weird.
This was still a good read, but man it had a lot of weird moments. It makes me feel a bit differently about the first volume, since the first volume centered a spanish bad guy who was constantly talking in fakey spanish and broken english. I kind of gave it a pass the first time around, but with all of the weird stuff in this one... I dunno. Feels uncomfortable. Also, Myishi isn't a Japanese name. Couldn't he just google Japanese names before naming his character?