Six Wakes

by Mur Lafferty

[nannah]

(1.5)

Oh, boy. I’m not going to lie, finishing this book was challenging. The pacing was fine, and near the end the action really ramped up! But there were a couple things that made this difficult to read, combined with a terribly ableist trope that I really, really wish was being discussed more in the reviews.

Content warnings:
- ableism & a very ableist trope (specifically towards mental health; the physically disabled character and physically disabled issues are wonderfully represented, thankfully!)
- fatphobia
- abuse

Representation:
There are six main characters, most of them diverse:
- Hiro is Japanese
- Katrina is Latina -- I believe she’s Mexican
- Joanna is Black and physically disabled, with prosthetic legs
- Maria is Latina

Six clones serve as the small crew to a spaceship, planning to work for over 400 years and bring a hold of thousands of people in cryo to a new world. But when the clones wake up in their new bodies, they find their ones bodies covered in blood in front of them and the last twenty-plus years of their memories gone. They have no idea who the killer was or why they killed everyone … and they’re all going to be stuck together in the same small space for a long, long time.

So going by the description, this book sounds like one hell of a thriller. There are some really fantastic ideas here. Unfortunately, the concept is my favorite part. The writing is clumsy, with some of the worst editing I’ve ever seen , and though most of the representation is wonderfully handled -- a physically disabled woman who chooses to remain physically disabled in a world where everything can be cured is … more than I could ever wish for -- Mur Lafferty really dropped the ball when it comes to mental illness.

I’m going to have to look up whoever edited this book, because reading this infuriated me. Commas being used for pauses, continuity errors, characters speaking in the exact same voice, text over explaining what characters say or think, etc. I remember taking the note that this was one of the weakest beginnings I’ve ever read before. 130 pages in and the characters have only showered, changed, and eaten breakfast -- in a mystery thriller!

There’s also a very specific type of writing in Six Wakes I can only describe by saying I associate it with fanfiction. After looking at the author’s website, I found her bio section describing her falling in love with fanfiction, so it’s no surprise her writing has that style. I’m not going to judge whether one is objectively better here; that’s a matter of personal preference, but I’m not convinced approaching a book like writing fanfiction is going to work as well.

For example (besides the trademark fanfiction style -- which … if you read fanfic, you know what I’m talking about), on maybe page twenty, everyone comes into the kitchen for tea, and when the captain tells Hiro it’s not the right time to make a joke, he replies that, “… with all due respect, if I don’t make jokes I will instead fall into the screaming panic that is lurking behind every metaphorical tree and bush in my psyche. Now, if you would prefer screaming panic, you say the word. I will mention that it is likely that my last incarnation gave in to said screaming panic, and look what happened to him.” In fanfic, this is charming, because we already know the characters; in a book where the characters are all new, it's overwhelming and awkward. And we have an entire book to explore Hiro’s character … why is so much of it being spelled out in one paragraph? I feel robbed of getting to know him!

This is also my problem with the POVs that explore the characters’ backgrounds. They’re written much stronger but unfortunately come across much cheesier than I’m sure was intended, laying out above-and-beyond traumatic experiences with that same sarcastic POV voice and no build up. They’re also placed in such a way that doesn’t create the most impact for the story, where everyone’s secrets are a huge part of the plot.

Which comes to a much bigger gripe: I just don’t buy what leads them to where they are in the first place. I don’t buy that 1. so many people would allow hundreds, perhaps thousands (I can’t quite remember) of people to be entrusted to a crew composed entirely of convicts. 2. the person who sent them to space would go through such a convoluted way to get rid of them and everyone else in the hold -- just because “she’s dramatic” or whatever. I just don’t buy that.

Okay, one more thing, and then I’m done complaining. I have to talk about Hiro.
This is possibly spoilery material, so I'll hide it, but this is my biggest issue. The book is ableist against people with mental illness -- particularly people with DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder) or Multiplicity. I’m not knowledgeable enough to comment on which is more accurate. Hiro is a clone whose mindmap has been hacked in the worst way: his mind has been implanted with two “yadokori”, illegal clones whose lives he hasn’t actually lived himself. Worse, those clones have been also worked on so their empathy, sympathy, and probably compassion have been removed, making them (as the text says) sociopaths and psychopaths. It seems to be compared in many ways to DID, with Hiro’s current life/mind being the constant “front” of the system (a group of people who inhabit the same body), while the other clones, though present, take a step back. Through therapy, Hiro is able to soften the other clones’ voices (though the “voices in my head” also reminds me of personality disorders with auditory hallucinations, so I guess the author is just covering all the more “frightening” mental illnesses).

Unfortunately, by making Hiro’s other personalities violent, she’s not only rehashing the ugly old trope of “mentally ill character is violent and frightening,” but also “character with multiple personalities is violent and frightening.” In a book with such diverse characters and positive physical disability representation, words cannot fully express how angry and disappointed I am.

And there’s more! At the very, very end, we have an annoying trope Mur Lafferty managed to avoid earlier: the magical cure. Hiro is able to get rid of his other personalities and “be cured of DID”. I understand his other personalities aren’t very pleasant, but why did the author have to make a character with DID in the first place, one who would be violent, one who’d need a cure in the end to be happy? Why did this have to be done, especially seeing as it’s such an ableist issue so overly present in the horror and thriller genre already?

This is so cruel to say, but if I didn’t need to finish this for a challenge, I wouldn’t have. The writing just wasn’t for me, and the ableism almost physically hurt in a book that seemed to strive so hard for positive representation on all sides. I will still say that Mur Lafferty has some golden concepts, though, and a ton of potential.