If this book had been a parody of the tired YA post-apocaliptic/dystopia/romancepocalypse genre I wish The best laugh out loud book I've read in 2015!
If this book had been a parody of the tired YA post-apocaliptic/dystopia/romancepocalypse genre I wish someone would just take out of its misery already, this book would've been utter perfection because it captures almost effortlessly all that's pure garbage about the genre and then presents it to the reader in the most abominably infantile and histrionic writing I've read in ages, and through the most pathetically shallow and stereotyped characters I've ever had the misfortune to read about.
The 100 reminded me a lot of my experience with The Maze Runner, which is, in my opinion, the perfect book to exemplify what happens when you have a really fantastic idea for a novel but don't really have the talent to write yourself out of a children's coloring book. The 100 goes even further than that because, at the very least, The Maze Runner limped its way through a decent plot, whereas I'm being exceedingly generous by using the words "The 100" and "plot" in the exact same sentence without adding "absolutely had no" in the middle. This novel had no idea what it wanted to do, no direction or clear cut path of what it was supposed to be besides some generic "evil government" and angst-riddled shitfest who abused the words "beautiful" and "heart" to such an extent that I wouldn't be surprised if the words were to disappear from all dictionaries because this book drained the available quantities for them for eternity.
So there's this girl, who's beautiful and perfect and nice and is supposed to know something about whatever, but fuck it, who cares because isn't she just so beautiful? There's this guy who would do anything (anything) for a girl who hates him, because why should a NO or "stay away from me" or the lives of thousands of others mean anything when it's true love, right? This other guy who would do anything (anything) for his sister, except perhaps pay actual attention to her and all the shit she's doing. There's the aforementioned sister who, because she's not the main character, is not beautiful, perfect or nice. And then there's this other chick who has it really tough because the love of her life is poor and nobody wants them to be together, even though nobody is actually going out of their way to stop her from being with the guy. And they are all in love with each other, because of course.
Sorry, should I have written that with spoiler tags? I literally just gave away the entire plot of this novel. The worst part is... Okay, so I can't even settle on what the worst part of this novel was, but one of the equally awful parts of this novel is that, for a story so intently and brutally pushing the romance angle, not a single one of these characters had any chemistry whatsoever with each other, there wasn't a single spark or connection between them. It was all so ridiculously superficial and over-dramatic, the romance here felt less like the characters wanted to be with each other and more like the author forcing Barbie dolls to kiss each other. None of this was romantic. Quite frankly, it was uncomfortably stale and it bordered on creepy several times.
The storytelling in this novel was so insufferably lazy. There's 5 different third person PoVs that shift back and forth between present and past, each scene jarringly forced to remember some unnecessary memory about something mildly related to what's going on because telling your characters' past in a way that does not abuse this technique or disrupts the narrative flow of the story would be too much work. Essentially, the 300 and something pages of this novel consists on what happens when someone throws water on an anthill and the ants just scatter and start running around in circles for an extended period of time. Not that I can actually blame these characters for having absolutely no idea what to do, in this poorly-planned, nonsensical dystopia, not even the adults or Evil Goverment(TM) seemed to be having the slightest clue about what they were supposed to be doing or the reasons behind their actions.
Everything about this book is regurgitated from a hundred different other previous books, there's very little originality or uniqueness to the story to keep one focused, interested or entertained, and in any case, the poor writing, shallow characterization, forced romance and anorexic plotting take away from any small ember that could've burned this book's way into a better rating. I haven't seen the TV series, but I'm told it's really good and nothing like the book. I'd be interested if I wasn't already aware of a blatant instance of racism in how the characters from the book were given life in the series, so I can say with all confidence that I am done with The 100 in all its forms. ...more
Dumplin' is an exceedingly difficult book to talk about because, while there's a side of me that's ready to throw parades to celebrate this b3.5 stars
Dumplin' is an exceedingly difficult book to talk about because, while there's a side of me that's ready to throw parades to celebrate this book's social perfection, another side of me is still shrugging her shoulders apologetically with a very contrite look on her face because she feels like she should ask the world's forgiveness for not really loving this book. That's the problem with books that are just "okay" on a personal level, but that are fantastic on an objective way and extremely important because of the message they carry. The same happened to me with The Truth About Alice and even The Last Time We Say Goodbye, both of which ranked barely above decent for me in execution, but are still books I'd recommend to people in a heartbeat because of the importance of the message they were written to convey. Dumplin' now firmly positions itself at the top of my "Why can't I love you?!/What's wrong with me?!" category.
This novel is not exactly what I was expecting. It still is as body-positive as I hoped (and surprisingly sex-positive too!), but it took unexpected turns along the way to the point that I felt sometimes like the novel I started reading and the one that manifested itself after the first 50 pages were not the same. Body image is certainly the core of the novel, but the love-your-body thing and even the Dolly Parton and the beauty pageant parts of the plot, which I thought would be the central aspects of the novel, were relegated to the background a lot more than I expected. They hung on the periphery of the story, always there and guiding the story to a certain extent but rarely the focus of what was going on in most scenes. The novel is a whole lot more focused on Willowdean's relationships with others and day-to-day livings.
I am very pleased with the way some of the relationships were developed in the novel. They were nuanced, complex, flawed and meaningful, particularly those Willowdean had with her mother and her best friend and even those she developed with her new pageant friends (though those felt forced sometimes). But I can't say the same for the romantic relationships in the novel, which are arguably the main focus of the story. The romance here was handled in a very odd way and I am stuck between admiration at its unconventionality and exasperation at, both, the forced inclusion of a love triangle and the way the author decided to wrap up Willowdean's romantic complications. While I greatly admire the author's decision to include a main love interest that's flawed, but ultimately, not shallow in spite of his social standing, I never really felt much chemistry between Willowdean and Bo, and most of the time, the whole thing felt a whole lot more like wish-fulfillment than actual, genuine romance. Similarly, I respected the author's decision to portray Willowdean as a flawed character by the way in which she behaved with Mitch, but whatever respect I have is vastly outweighed by the dislike Willowdean provoked on my through the thoroughly selfish, shallow, corwardly and hypocritical way she dealt with him.
Willowdean is not a perfect character, she sometimes even crosses the line into downright unlikable, and I can understand how bold of a choice that was for an author trying to promote body-positivism and self-love. You want readers to see this message reflected on a character and feel it themselves, which is more easily (and lazily) achieved through a perfectly lovable and charming main character. Willowdean is charming, definitely fierce, but she's far from perfectly lovable. The entire story is about her learning far more than self-love (which she was already in possession of well before the story actually started), and actually has her considering about many other factors of who she is as a person. And she is, most definitely, selfish, self-centered, insensibly stubborn and cowardly. I'd like to say she grew out of all of them by the end of the book, but that's not true. Willowdean learns some things throughout the course of the novel, but she's hardly a much better individual towards the end. Sometimes I couldn't help feeling that, while the novel made a point of Willowdean learning Important Lessons, it sometimes went out of its way to justify her shitty actions or downright refused to address the fact that she had been, in fact, shitty to others. Still, she was a pretty good lead for this type of book.
I deeply enjoyed that, for the most part, no part of this story felt manufactured and forced to jackhammer body-positivism into the reader's mind. Perhaps with the exception of the romance, this book has a pretty believable and realistic story that conveys a message that's easy to accept because of its honesty. I never actually laughed out loud with the book, but I must admit it was a fairly entertaining one. My biggest problem with this novel is probably that it took far too long to get anywhere. I like that it took its time to develop meaningful relationships which are usually so deliberately ignored in other novels, but at certain points it felt too round-about, too willingly stuck in order to halt the progression of things. By the time it decided to go anywhere, my excitement had diminished exponentially.
All in all, Dumplin' is a very special book that deserves to be read. It delivers a very important message with great success and makes for a very entertaining read as well. I'm sad I wasn't able to love it, but this one of those books that I'll definitely recommend for many years to come. ...more
After a beautiful start, Donnelly and I have had a very rocky last two years. I fell in love with Revolution and A Northern Light, which always seemedAfter a beautiful start, Donnelly and I have had a very rocky last two years. I fell in love with Revolution and A Northern Light, which always seemed to me like gorgeously written and very sensitive books about realistically complex girls. I ached for those two main characters, different from each other but equally compelling and believable, and I believed their pain and their world and the things they had to do to overcome their circumstances. Donnelly conveyed their lives with a sensitivity that showcased amazingly human emotions and made it really easy for me to connect with them, to root for them and believe their every emotion. I think those two are extraordinary novels that speak to YA audiences like mature, intelligent persons capable of understanding the nuances of a life full of tragedy and difficulties, lives that shaped young women into heroines, not always understandable and certainly flawed, but strong and worth caring about.
And then Deep Blue happened, a huge disappointment that I let slide because the book was aimed towards the middling line between Middle Grade and YA. Still, my faith of Donnelly was shaken enough that I was wary of These Shallow Graves, but not enough to dissuade me from reading it. I already knew she could write beautifully, that historical fiction is certainly her forte, and that writing once more for a strictly YA audience, I could trust her to deliver another tough, strong and realistic heroine fighting her way through everything. As it turns out, Donnelly brought the general gist of story to YA standards again, she just forgot to bring the rest of her craft, including the main character.
First off, there is absolutely no reason for this book to be 500 pages long. Absolutely NONE. I understand that the purpose behind this was to deepen the mystery, which admittedly worked somewhat, and to show the way this situation affected all aspects of Jo's life, both her life as a NY socialite and her more private life, but what it lend itself to was for a very repetitive and often uneventful narrative. Something was consistently happening in the novel, which saved it from being dreadfully boring, but the same things would happen over and over with just the smallest of differences. We got Jo pondering the same things over and over, engaging in the exact same actions and interactions with other characters, and, in the end, it was all extremely unnecessary, for it didn't add anything to the actual core and quality of the story and only padded the book far beyond what was needed. Moreover, this also had the unfortunate effect of making the story predictable. I appreciated the effort into making the mystery a lot more complicated and complex, but it made the twists evident since the very start. This was all the more frustrating because of how unbearably naive the main character was.
Jo is an exasperating, willfully ignorant, reckless and irritating main character. She was a study in contradictions, and not the good kind. Jo is 17 years old, and yet she behaves, thinks and speaks like she's 12. Everybody around her treated her like she was such a smart woman, so mature and intelligent, but nowhere did she ever act like anything more than a child. She was outstandingly ignorant, jaw-droppingly naive and frustratingly slow to catch everything that went on around her. She constantly needed someone else to spell things out for her, and that would've worked with her characterization of a sheltered socialite groomed to be nothing but a proper wife and mother, but the story itself attempted to sell her as a sensitive, knowledgeable, intelligent, driven and conscious girl that wanted to break with social norm, find herself, pursue a career that most society would frown upon and fight social injustices. Needless to say, Jo failed to uphold any of that.
Jo was competent sometimes simply because the story forced to be. As a main character, she lacked complexity and profundity, and she wasn't even interesting. Unlike previous Donnelly heroines, Jo lacked the strength to carry the book by herself, whereas the first two books I read by Donnelly could well afford to take away from the strength of the plot because reading about the main character made it all worth it. This resulted in Jo becoming simply a placeholder, a figured needed to make things happens, but not someone anybody would glance twice at, nor someone anybody would care about, which, needless to say, makes for a very poor main character and heroine.
My three biggest complaints about YA are: the rampant girl on girl hate, the shallow standard for heroines, and insta-love. My problem with insta-love in YA is not so much that it may happen quickly - I can certainly understand two people feeling an immediate connection or the strong bonding of people after a particularly strong and emotionally taxing event. Heck, I experienced that myself, as my boyfriend and I pretty much fell in love in the course of one week when I was 17 and we've been together for 8 years now. Is not so much a matter of quantity as it is of quality. You want me to believe your two characters loved each other almost instantly? Okay, I can handle it, but you have to give it something that gives meaning to the connection, you have to make me believe that something happened so strongly between these two that time doesn't matter. That's exactly what didn't happen in this novel.
Jo and Eddie's connection came pretty much out of nowhere. There was not a single aspect of this novel that made their relationship believable. Realistically speaking, these two people would never fall in love. Maybe Jo could develop a crush on Eddie, but he would never return it, and so it never felt natural when these two started proclaiming their love for each other. First of all, like I mentioned before, Jo's naivety made her come across as a child, whereas Eddie always felt like very much an adult. That he, in his maturity, was able to be sexually and romantically attracted to Jo, who was essentially a 12 year old in all aspects but physical to the point that I often forgot that she was 17, was nothing short of creepy. Moreover, there was no spark, no sincere connection between them except for the fact that the author willed it so. From one moment to the other, poof!, love. And the worst part is that it took over the plot and made it so irritatingly melodramatic, which also led to the series of cliched and ridiculous scenes I've read in dozens of other YA novels.
In this novel you can find the classic "we accidentally got stuck together in a tight, confined space and we are forced to be extremely close together, close enough to kiss and feel each other's breaths on our faces, and just as we are about to kiss, somebody lets us out", also the tragic "I saw you with someone else that I immediately thought was a beautiful lover but was really family and so I'm going to make a horrible decision out of anger that will ruin our relationship because confronting you about it just won't do", and the much beloved "we are just too different, we come from different worlds, go with that other guy you don't love because this relationship needs some angst".
The romantic relationship in this novel isn't the only one that's not believable in the slightest. Jo developed friendships out of nowhere and for no other reason than because the plot required it. People just don't go around forming instant bonds with others, bonds strong enough you'd risk your life for, simply because you talked to each other once for a couple of minutes and you didn't kill or rob each other. Secondary characters would swoop in and out of the plot wherever it was required. Longtime friends would be mentioned once and then discarded, family members would disappear when convenient, and characters that were built up in the novel, would just never show up again for anything.
This novel tried to be so many things, to include so many different aspects of that society, that it failed to keep hold of any of them. I appreciate the message of female empowerment, of a girl fighting against the ridiculous constraints imposed on all women that would have them being nothing but gloried and submissive servants to the whims of men - hell, I love that, but it was so heavy-handed in this novel, that it was exasperating. Unsubtle and ham-handed, the sexism of the times was thrown at the reader's face at every opportunity, regardless of how appropriate it was at the moment, because the only thing that mattered is that the reader understood that Jo had to suffer through SEXISM, even though it was fairly obvious since the beginning and without the need of having it thrown at my face with all the subtlety of a jackhammer. The worst part is that the book would hammer that on the reader's face, along with some issues like poverty and crime, and then did absolutely nothing about it.
The mystery itself was interesting enough to keep me reading well past what my patience allowed, but it was predictable. Had it been a shorter novel, it would've probably gotten a better rating. The writing was okay, the mystery engaging enough, the epilogue surprisingly satisfying, the historical background perhaps the best thing in the entire novel. But this story was stretched far beyond what it could, and what would've been an unremarkable but decent reading experience got turned into a constant struggle with frustration and a fight to finish. I think this is where I part ways with Donnelly. Maybe in the future I can give some other book of hers a chance, but for the moment, I've gotten all the disappointment I can handle. ...more
It was just so. Damn. Boring. It felt like such a chore to get through this one, I had to literally force myself to remain focused on each page. WhileIt was just so. Damn. Boring. It felt like such a chore to get through this one, I had to literally force myself to remain focused on each page. While Smith did an admirable effort with the originality of this setting, which burst right off the page and blew away any misgivings I might have harbored over certain elements of this novel, I still derived close to no enjoyment out of this reading experience and felt completely detached from every single aspect of this novel.
The main problem is that, while the idea driving this novel is compelling, the attractiveness of it remains purely conceptual and fails to translate into an equally compelling and immersive execution. As a result, everything about this novel ends up coming across as bland and unmemorable. The characters and their relationships had absolutely no impact on me. Even if the author hadn't resorted to many of the typical YA romance clichés (love triangle, misunderstanding about the nature of the relationship between another two characters, seemingly hopeless pining after a perfect guy that everyone can see is into the main characters except for herself, easy resolution to a love triangle with the demonization of one of the two suitors, etc.), there was still nothing remarkable about these characters to make me care in the slightest about them or their stupid and needlessly convoluted romantic problems.
The main character, in particular, failed to stand out in any way or form. She hardly got any characterization beyond being this raging ball of insecurities. Her constant whining and pining after this guy was irritating, but even that failed to make an impression and make me feel in any way (even negatively) invested in her. She was just bland and generic, a carbon copy of the prototype of "Strong Female Character"TM that YA keeps trying to push, a character that's supposedly easy to like because of how inoffensive she is and that we are supposed to root for because she displays vaguely some modicum of bravery and intelligence and independence. The rest of the characters are as equally insipid, dull and distinctiveness. Everything that could've possibly been interesting about them remained firmly stuck to their character outlines and never developed into anything that could've engaged me in any way. I don't even remember their names.
The only aspects of the novel even remotely interesting were the bad guys and the mechanics of the dream world, and even those failed to make a dent in my armor of complete indifference. The explanations for the dream world became too convoluted and confusing after a while, the politics and mythology behind the world building far too intricate and underdeveloped, and the bad guys were never played to their full potential. The whole dreamstriding thing in particular failed to make sense to me and the explanations provided in the story never fixed the many holes I could see in the concept every time I read about it. I never felt the urgency of the story, never understood the importance behind the main character and her abilities, and I especially never managed to understand how exactly everything was resolved - and didn't care enough to re-read and find out.
I truly wish I could say more positive things about this novel because it is a very original and commendable effort, but to me, reading this book felt like a flat-line from beginning to end. I'm still struggling to think of something remarkable about it, but no aspect of this novel felt engaging to me. It's strange because this is not a slow novel but it felt like it dragged to me and that made it really hard for me to remain focused and interested. Quite frankly, I was just bored. Still, I'm fairly confident this is another case of "it's-not-you-it's-me", so while I failed to connect with the novel, I'm sure people interested in military/spy sci-fi dystopias with a pinch of fantasy will surely be intrigued by this one. For me, the book is almost entirely forgotten at this point. ...more
Is this book ridiculous? Yes. Absolutely preposterous? Definitely. Does that mean it wasn't absolutely entertaining? Nope. You see, this is one of thoIs this book ridiculous? Yes. Absolutely preposterous? Definitely. Does that mean it wasn't absolutely entertaining? Nope. You see, this is one of those books that you roll your eyes at, that make you snort at the sheer absurdity of it all, but it's also one that you just can't stop reading, no matter what. It is compulsively readable, very intriguing and undeniably riveting. I was hooked. So yeah, there were inconsistencies in the story, plot holes, and a deliberate over-stretching of a plot that couldn't possible be stretched any farther, but I had fun reading this novel, as in, legitimate, authentic and thrilling fun. The book is twisty and does all the things an intriguing mystery is supposed to do. I sort of figured the whole thing out about a third into the story, but the book kept me guessing, and that's what this type of book is supposed to do, which is something that most YA mystery/thriller fail horribly at.
I felt like some of the characters could've used a bit more dimension, like the big reveal could've been a bit more polished, the antagonist given a stronger motive, and I could've done with a lot less sexualization of the girl love interest, although I was happy to see that she owned her sexuality with unapologetic confidence, but truth be told, this is not a book that made an impact on me in terms of quality. It was just a thoroughly enjoyable, very engaging read, which was exactly the kind of book I needed to read at the time I picked it up.
Max's voice was believable, realistic and engaging, and I actually liked what the author did with Parvati's characterization, but you have to be prepared to deal with these characters making terrible decisions for the sake of prolonging the plot. Like I said, this book is so unrealistic it actually physically hurts, but all in all, it's a very readable, entertaining book that I had to stop myself from reading in one sitting, and that's, in all honestly, all I wanted out of it. ...more
One can always count on Rachel Hawkins to deliver great doses of fun and charming entertainment, as well as reliable, engaging heroines that are realiOne can always count on Rachel Hawkins to deliver great doses of fun and charming entertainment, as well as reliable, engaging heroines that are realistic, strong and very easy to root for. Sure, her stories are not exactly a fountain of originality and, truth be told, there's very little substance behind all the fluff, but her books never fail to remind me that it's perfectly acceptable to think a book's good even when it is solely pure entertainment and it doesn't take itself too seriously. But ultimately, while this one was certainly fun, it failed to live up to the promise of the first one.
Rebel Belle was a bit of a surprise for me because, although I already expected to be entertained, I did not expect the brain candy to also be absolutely badass and engaging the way it turned out to be. There were many elements about the story that I expected to be irritated by, but, somehow, it all turned out great. So I had some expectations of Miss Mayhem, and though it certainly delivered the appropriate levels of fun and sassyness, Miss Mayhem seem to just stumble along from beginning to end, balancing on a very thin thread of a plot that felt like a filler in the series.
Miss Mayhem was slightly similar to Rebel Belle in content. School drama, love triangle issues, BFF complications and a single social even where hell breaks loose, but, somehow, it wasn't as engaging as the first one, mostly because this one felt forced to some degree. The story felt slightly disjointed from what the first one had already established, not because it didn't follow the original, but because it didn't flow naturally from it. By giving it a similar structure to the first one, this one felt repetitive and, truth be told, rather pointless.
I didn't connect with the characters in this one, made harder by how supremely exasperating and silly they were at points, and their issues seemed overdramatic and ridiculous to me. Their actions didn't go with the characters, which means that for most of the novel, the characterization was all over the place and all so that specific events could happen to turn up the teenage angst to the max. For some reason, the love triangle kept shifting back and forth, turning into a love square and changing parts out of nowhere. Most characters didn't even play an important role in the story when it came down to it, and they all seemed to run around in circles with no idea where they were supposed to go, just hoping for the whole thing to be over. There was just something missing from the group dynamic and the whole thing just ended up feeling forced. Every single obstacle in their way felt deliberately placed there and that made it really hard to feel invested in these characters and their story because the whole thing felt contrived and strained, very much like this was a middle book and some things absolutely needed to be set for the big finale no matter what.
I don't feel like this novel contributed much to be mythology at work in this story, nor to the characterization of the main cast. The antagonist in this one felt cliched and didn't participate much in the story, and the conflict behind the novel was very unfulfilling, half-baked and anti-climactic as it was. Additionally, the writing was definitely not Hawkins best.
Unfortunately, Miss Mayhem was yet another victim of the middle book syndrome. It failed to meet the effortless entertainment and cleverness of the first one, and it's nothing more than an obvious, shaky platform for the third one. As a sequel, it's weak and unsatisfying, by itself it's flawed and rather pointless. It admittedly offers enough mindless entertainment and fun that works great with its short length and lighthearted content, but as a whole, the novel falls short from what it should've been. ...more
I could blame the ridiculously long amount of time it took me to finish this novel on the fact that I was abruptly2.5 stars generously rounded up to 3
I could blame the ridiculously long amount of time it took me to finish this novel on the fact that I was abruptly forced to cease all reading by the dreaded season of cramming and studying-until-eyeballs-bleed for finals, but, to be perfectly honest, I was actually kind of relieved about getting a break from this novel. You see, there's nothing particularly wrong with this book, in fact, it's a very decently crafted novel. But the truth is that I did struggle with reading this novel, and, about 50 pages into it, I was reminded in a rather harsh manner of why this author's first novel, The Dark Unwinding, is the only book I've ever left unfinished: Her writing and pacing are frustratingly, maddeningly, mind-numbingly boring. Even when things are actually happening, the rest of the novel has placed you in such a strong state of comatose boredom, you can't find it within yourself to summon any sort of emotion or excitement, not even a desperation to just get done with the novel. You're just there, in a weird state of complete indifference, which is a pity because Cameron's stories are actually good. I started to really enjoy the book about a 150 pages before it ended, which made quite an impact on what had been an unshakable 2-star experience, but while I can readily admit I see what would make this appealing for other readers, the slow built-up of this novel made it a forgettable, mediocre reading experience for me.
I genuinely liked the concept behind the novel, the characterization and development of the characters and the plot, but their execution left much to be desired because the writing made it really difficult to connect with any of it. Cameron's writing is perfectly decent, and I don't know if it's the cadence or its lengthiness, but something about it makes me lose focus, makes it seem like it just goes on and on without much actually happening. Personally, that made it really difficult for me to care about the novel, to feel invested in the story or the characters, or to be particularly interested in any aspect of the novel. The one thing that I was legitimately interested in the novel was the character of René. The novel just took too long with absolutely everything. I don't think I've ever complained about a novel's thoroughness before, but this novel is about twice the length it should've been simply because of how specific and detailed every single plot point is in the novel.
Cameron gave a lot of development to its two main characters, Sophia and René, and I actually enjoyed the chemistry behind them. But, whereas René was a very interesting, well-developed and refreshingly original love interest in YA, Sophia, while well-rounded a character, was far too perfect for my taste. While it is commendable that Cameron didn't use her own novel as a sort of shrine to the perfection of her main character like some other authors do, it is undeniable that Sophia lacks any sort of human flaw that would mar in any way or form her perfection, which made her a particularly hard character to feel invested in. I also didn't like that her abominable selfishness was presented as kindness, particularly went it came to how she handled the third wheel in this love triangle. That was not being kind or selfless or sacrificed or considerate as the novel tried to paint it, Sophia was not confused or afraid to hurt his feelings, she pretty much strung Spear along, knowing perfectly well that he was in love with her, and kept him around because she needed him.
If either Sophia, the story or the writing had acknowledged this as a character flaw, I actually would've been okay with this because it would've added a layer of human imperfection to Sophia that would've made her a lot more fascinating to read about. But no, like everything she did, this was painted over and made out to be just another example of her perfection: she loved her childhood friend so very much, she couldn't bear to hurt his heart because she didn't reciprocate his feelings. Essentially, Sophia's only flaw was that she was reckless and impulsive, but when has that ever being a flaw in a YA heroine, especially when the love interest loves her for that? Sophia was certainly brave and clever, and I genuinely think she is a good heroine as far as YA standards go, but to me she is not a particularly interesting or engaging character by herself.
That doesn't mean, however, that I have any sort of sympathy for Spear. This novel presents a strange sort of love triangle because, from the beginning, everybody knows there is no way Sophia would ever choose Spear. It is quite obvious his feelings are not returned, and besides, no one in their right mind would ever root for Spear. He was controlling, possessive, inconsiderate, obsessive and a bit of a sociopath. The characters themselves did make a point of outright telling that this was not affection or love, but a desire for possession, but this was at odds with how the story simultaneously tried to portray him as loyal, passionate and committed. I actually like that the author gave him this duality to his character, this seemingly contradictory and complex dimension, which definitely worked to some extent, but I found it really hard to like/care/be-anything-but-intensely-creeped-out by this character.
Ironically, I was a whole lot more creeped out by one of the "heroes" than by the actual villain. In fact, all I felt about this villain was derisive skepticism. He was a cartoon of a villain, almost bordering on sheer absurdity. He was supposed to be this absolute psychopath, but he was so entirely one-dimensional, so thoroughly inconsistent in characterization and behavior, that it was very hard to see him as a threatening villain, and it was particularly painful to get through the parts of the story told from his point of view.
I came pretty close to DNFing this novel a couple of times. It wasn't holding my attention, it felt uneventful and consistently failed to be either engaging or entertaining because it just took too damn long to get anywhere, but, surprisingly, shortly after the 50% mark, the book actually improved vastly and I was legitimately interested in seeing where it would go. The story itself is twisty and conceptually compelling, the interactions between the characters were actually pretty well written and the world itself was original and fascinating, but up until that point, its snail-like pace had hindered my enjoyment of just about any of those things. But things do get in motion about halfway through the novel, which saved the book for me and made me feel generous enough to give it that extra half-star and bump it up to a 3 star rating. I don't think I've managed to convey this very well, but this is actually a decent novel. There are plenty of good things to it, certainly more than bad things, but I personally found it really hard to enjoy much of it because this author's writing and pacing bored me to near death. The book somewhat redeemed itself for me towards the end, or maybe I was just in a much better mood after having taken a long break from it, but it managed the impressive feat of reigniting my interest after hundreds of pages of absolute indifference.
I have very conflicting feelings about this novel, which should be evident given my rambling review, but I do actually think this is a decent novel that simply needed a bit more editing. 100 pages less and a bit more tightening with the writing, and this could've easily been a fantastic read. In spite of that 3 star rating, I think this is my last Cameron read. I tried with her debut novel and failed miserably, and now I barely made it out of this one. I respect her imagination and her craft, but it is now obvious her writing is not for me. ...more
The Sin Eater's Daughter was quite the strange read for me because, although it had some of the elements that tend to work against a novel fo3.5 stars
The Sin Eater's Daughter was quite the strange read for me because, although it had some of the elements that tend to work against a novel for me, I was actually enjoying this one quite a lot until the end. It's true that the narration was occasionally flat and that, as a whole, the novel was rather uneventful, but, for some reason, I found the story to be very compelling for most of the novel. I can't very well explain in, but this novel managed to hook me in, for no particular reason, truth be told, and I found myself very invested in the story, until that ending came along.
The Sin Eater's Daughter is, for all intents and purposes, a romance novel. It might seem like it might've been more than that, what with the fascinating world of fantasy it introduces and the strange ability this girl has with potions, at the very least, it should've been about court intrigue and evil kings, but truly, this book is pretty much just about the romance, and strangely enough, I was sort of okay with it. Sure, the romance developed from an instant connection and developed far too quickly, as it is usually in YA books, but I thought it was sweet and that Salisbury made a good job out of making it feel somewhat authentic and making me believe the danger that this liaison represented. I believed the connection between Twylla and Lief, for some reason, and I liked reading about them together. Stranger still, the love triangle here didn't bother me as much, either, though, truth be told, it wasn't so much a romantic love triangle as a forced one because of Twylla's circumstances. But still, even if the novel was mostly focused on the romance, which meant everything else got sort of pushed towards the background, I was intrigued about the direction the story would take.
I liked the world Salisbury created in this novel. It relied far too much on infodumpings to come alive in the novel, but there was a certain spark of originality to it that made it very engaging, even if it was hardly the focus of the novel. I was intrigued by this world and its strange tendencies, and I think Salisbury did a commendable job at constructing the mythology/religion upon which the concept of the Sin Eater and Twylla's own role as a Goddess Incarnate could stand. It was fascinating, and it definitely carried the novel when it got too focused on the romance or failed to explored the world further, which is, sadly, exactly what happened once the novel went deep into the romance. The world, after a pretty heavy introduction at the beginning, remained a bit static once the forbidden romance starts to take the spotlight, and I think that was a bit of a waste considering how intriguing a concept the author had with this novel and how it would've made for a far stronger novel had this world been explored more profoundly.
The writing in this novel is pretty decent. Admittedly, there were some lines in there that felt rough, but, for the most part, I thought it flowed smoothly enough. What I did struggle a bit with was the narration. Twylla has a particular voice that was engaging enough for the focus of the novel, but, ultimately, was rather flat and it made it really hard to know her. I know what the author wanted me to see about her, but the character itself never fully came alive for me because the narration hardly left any openings for her to slip through and show me a nuanced, round character, and since we saw the other characters through her eyes, most of the other characters suffered the same fate.
But I had been more than willing to forgive all that. Like I said, the story was strangely compelling and, in spite of its flaws, I was hooked, which made me more than willing to ignore the flaws, but the one thing I could not ignore was the delivery of the climax. Admittedly, the author did drop some clues throughout the story, but the climax still feels to forced and unconvincing for me. We are randomly told certain bits and pieces about a particular concept, but I always saw them as small windows into the world these characters lived in, nothing particularly special and certainly not something that would lay the groundwork the climax would hinge on. It was not a solid enough concept to base the climax of the novel on, and it felt, I'm sorry to say, very half-assed. It was almost like nobody could find another way to wrap up the novel and they just took a random thread from the rest of the novel and decided it was better than nothing. Even worse, not only did that twist comes seemingly out of nowhere, it amounts to nothing by the time the final page comes around, and that hurt its integrity even more. It was an extremely weak way to wrap up a story, and its not so much because of what it is but because of the way that it was handled in the story. Maybe the author just didn't want to make it evident in the story and was looking for some shock value, and I can understand that, but, even going back to where the "hints" were dropped and connecting them all the way to the climax, it still feels disjointed and almost nonsensical.
I actually quite liked how the author handled the romance towards the end, for I thought it was a bold move as far as romances go in YA and it spoke volumes for Twylla's characterization, but the last few lines of that epilogue robbed me of most of the satisfaction from what appeared to be what the author had decided to do with the romance. I wish she had stuck to her guns and gone bravely on with the decision Twylla made at the end of the novel, but I see how the romantic tendencies in YA would've made her give up her idea and stick to the more traditional romantic endings in YA.
Ultimately, The Sin Eater's Daughter is a decent and entertaining novel that's strangely compelling and gives the reader a pretty interesting world and mythology, as well as a surprisingly engaging romance. While the last pages of the novel were a disappointment to me, I still liked this novel against all odds, and completely understand and appreciate its appeal. ...more
Loading...
