patchworkbunny reviewed The Rosewater Redemption by Tade Thompson (The Wormwood Trilogy, #3)
Review of 'The Rosewater Redemption' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
Mayor Jack is handing over the dead of Rosewater to the Homians, allowing them to supplant their consciousnesses in physical forms. The Mayor's wife is on a mission to prove that the reanimates are not truly gone, going up against Rosewater's policy, which was put in place to keep them safe. But it will only last so long, eventually humans will be replaced on Earth unless someone can find an alternative.
Part of this instalment is told in first person from the point of view of Oyin Da, otherwise known as Bicycle Girl. This reveals her back-story and her part to play. I'll admit I wasn't in a great headspace whilst reading this and there's a lot happening, so I'm not sure I absorbed it all. I didn't completely understand what was going on with Bicycle Girl. Was it the xenosphere giving her the ability to time travel or was she not even time travelling?
Kaaro's keeping his head low whilst Aminat works for what's left of the authorities. The Synners are Homians taking things into their own hands, suicide bombers of sorts, speeding up the transfer process by taking more lives. Aminat wants something to be done, a punishment to those who get away with it, given a new body without consequences.
Rosewater, now independent from Nigeria, makes the choice to decriminalise homosexuality and the endgame plays out against their first, yet very small, Pride march. This was a nice touch. However for such an innovative alien invasion, I felt the solution was a bit cliched. Overall I enjoyed the trilogy but I think the other books were stronger in plot and pacing.