Amber's Reviews > The Melancholy of Untold History

** spoiler alert ** ARC gifted by the publisher

This novel will be very polarizing. I can see this working for patient readers, those who love unconventional structures, metafiction enthusiasts.

As metafiction, it really depends on what the reader takes away from the story. So I’m marking this review as spoiler because the themes don’t really become clear until the epilogue

I really love the themes of “untold stories”—why they exist and their significance to readers. The relationships between readers and writers is another fascinating aspect of the book.

What didn’t work for me is the execution. It’s pretty much all telling and 0 characters development. I didn’t care about the multiple stories at all because I couldn’t get a sense of who these people are.

I also really dislike the naming conventions in the book, some examples—Dragon Child National University, Radiant Tiger People, Four Verdant Mothers, Radiant Dynasty, Lord Fiery Dedication, etc. Maybe I missed the deeper meaning but it sounds so childish I couldn’t take it seriously.

Tbh the book reads like Wikipedia summary rather than an actual novel. It’s like the author wrote out a detailed plot of “A happened and then B and then C” and left it at that.

So while the premise is interesting and the themes have a lot of potential, they’re not enough to make up for the poor execution.

I suggest reading these books if you’re looking for books with similar topics:
- A TALE FOR THE TIME BEING
- LONG DIVISION
- 地底三萬呎 (not translated to English)