This is a fantastic review. Thank you for untangling some of the threads in this book that I found incredibly frustrating and for pointing out its successes and failings so well. (Word on everything you said on the novel's Treatment of Brazil and thank you for pointing me in the direction of more discussion thereof - what I found most jarring was that given the novelists' ability to engage with a the complex relationships of power and oppression, sexuality and relationships is that her vision of a future Brazil was very flat, stereotpyical, at times cringe-worthy and just not very inspired. There's art! And samba! And everybody is very passionate! Yey.)*

*) And then the roda viva reference out of nowhere. I ... don't really feel competent in discussing this and offering talking points, its usage just felt really odd to me, given the its political/historical context.

Idk *Hands* I wanted to enjoy this book so much, but it did frustrate me to no end.