Abandoning on page 89, because of glacially slow pace and annoying protagonist.
Eighty-nine pages, and no tension is building whatsoever. I wanted to read this, because I'm fascinated by Antarctica, but the sense of place (it's cold. It's getting dark ...) is non-existent.
Protagonist and narrator, Dr. Kate North, is more like a moony teenager than a qualified professional who has beaten out world-wide competition to become the doctor to a Antarctic research base, during their deep winter isolation. Obsessed with appearance -- all of her new colleagues are rated according to hotness (Including one whom she meets, right off the plane, as the minus-30 degree winds are whistling around them, but she just knows he's incredibly handsome from a glimpse of manly stubble peeping out around face mask and huge goggles). Haughton's idea of character building is dwelling constantly on Kate's obsession with (what appears to be relatively superficial) facial scarring -- No one likes me ... because I'm scarred ... I can't do my job properly ... because I'm, scarred ... I will never love again ... ... well, you get it ...
Also, you might come away with doubts about the vetting process for this "open to anyone in the world" process that brought Dr. North here, supposedly with "no disqualifying health conditions," with her clumsily hidden addiction to prescription painkillers and her other unfinished business surrounding the car accident that scarred her.
It all feels extremely implausible.
Eighty-nine pages, and no tension is building whatsoever. I wanted to read this, because I'm fascinated by Antarctica, but the sense of place (it's cold. It's getting dark ...) is non-existent.
Protagonist and narrator, Dr. Kate North, is more like a moony teenager than a qualified professional who has beaten out world-wide competition to become the doctor to a Antarctic research base, during their deep winter isolation. Obsessed with appearance -- all of her new colleagues are rated according to hotness (Including one whom she meets, right off the plane, as the minus-30 degree winds are whistling around them, but she just knows he's incredibly handsome from a glimpse of manly stubble peeping out around face mask and huge goggles). Haughton's idea of character building is dwelling constantly on Kate's obsession with (what appears to be relatively superficial) facial scarring -- No one likes me ... because I'm scarred ... I can't do my job properly ... because I'm, scarred ... I will never love again ... ... well, you get it ...
Also, you might come away with doubts about the vetting process for this "open to anyone in the world" process that brought Dr. North here, supposedly with "no disqualifying health conditions," with her clumsily hidden addiction to prescription painkillers and her other unfinished business surrounding the car accident that scarred her.
It all feels extremely implausible.
