Books That Burn reviewed Hench: A Novel by Natalie Zina Walschots
Review of 'Hench' on 'Storygraph'
5 stars
HENCH is a heady mix of spreadsheets and schadenfreude, with cruel beauty in its precision.
Because of the focus on the human cost of “heroes” there are long sections threaded through with the slow process of healing, of Anna coming to terms with how her body has been broken and reforged, accepting new limitations and finding joy and freedom in novel tools. Her cane is a great example, she uses it as an extension of herself, to support her, protect her, and to make grand her expressions since every gesture is fancier when punctuated by a cane.
Anna is very observant of people, both in ways that matter to what becomes the bulk of her work as a hench, and in ways that make the book better to read. Her turns of phrase, particularly when describing someone’s voice or laugh, are perfectly suited to the moment and bring new detail to each scene. The prose in general, told through Anna, uses what she observes to simultaneously give the reader more about her and to make every interaction feel fuller. The action scenes are poetic, beautifully described and full of the human cost of each moment of violence.
I love Anna’s rapport with Leviathan. Their purely platonic relationship has loyalty and respect without treading on each other's boundaries, built on whatever they're both willing to share. This handles several other strong platonic relationships very well. It hints at a sexual past for Anna, and features a bad date early on, but her strongest relationships are with her friends and co-workers, people she relies on and trusts quite literally with her life.
The ending is perfect, stopping right where it needs to. I’m sad that this is (as far as I know) stand-alone, since I don’t often run into many books with this perfect mix of fierce loyalty, revenge, and data manipulation, and I want more.
Because of the focus on the human cost of “heroes” there are long sections threaded through with the slow process of healing, of Anna coming to terms with how her body has been broken and reforged, accepting new limitations and finding joy and freedom in novel tools. Her cane is a great example, she uses it as an extension of herself, to support her, protect her, and to make grand her expressions since every gesture is fancier when punctuated by a cane.
Anna is very observant of people, both in ways that matter to what becomes the bulk of her work as a hench, and in ways that make the book better to read. Her turns of phrase, particularly when describing someone’s voice or laugh, are perfectly suited to the moment and bring new detail to each scene. The prose in general, told through Anna, uses what she observes to simultaneously give the reader more about her and to make every interaction feel fuller. The action scenes are poetic, beautifully described and full of the human cost of each moment of violence.
I love Anna’s rapport with Leviathan. Their purely platonic relationship has loyalty and respect without treading on each other's boundaries, built on whatever they're both willing to share. This handles several other strong platonic relationships very well. It hints at a sexual past for Anna, and features a bad date early on, but her strongest relationships are with her friends and co-workers, people she relies on and trusts quite literally with her life.
The ending is perfect, stopping right where it needs to. I’m sad that this is (as far as I know) stand-alone, since I don’t often run into many books with this perfect mix of fierce loyalty, revenge, and data manipulation, and I want more.