Sharra Gamez

Smoothly-written, but mediocre characterization

Revisado: 02-24-20

Not bad, not great. The biggest stumble is probably that what is supposed to be the plot's climax is guessed by Amy 2/3 of the way through the book, taking away all surprise value. There's also something strange in the presentation of women, with a number of proto-feminists on the one hand, and Henry's (Amy's love interest) insistence that Amy take him with her on the final leg of her journey on the other, which undermines Amy's autonomy and the respect/privacy she believes she owes her dead friend. There's also an obligatory second love interest who turns out to be painfully one-dimensional, in a-George-Wickham-but-less-interesting kind of cliched way.

All in all, it doesn't feel like the book knows what it wants to communicate regarding gender-roles, though it's clearer about class distinctions. And of course there's that horrific plot blunder undermining very well-written prose. Definitely a mixed bag.

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Terrible narration

Revisado: 02-23-20

I can't tell how this book is, because the narration is the WORST. The narrator is monotone and pays no attention to the rhythms of natural speech, thoughtful pauses, or the cadences of varying emotions, she just barrels ahead, stopping only for (sometimes audible) breaths. I'll give it another chance in print. It can't be worse than this.

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esto le resultó útil a 5 personas

Affecting, infuriating, touching, beautiful

Revisado: 12-14-18

A wonderful exploration of new mainstream family structures, with exquisite attention to the roles of class, race, sexuality and gender in how families are judged by society.

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esto le resultó útil a 3 personas

Now this is a vampire story

Revisado: 08-31-18

Vampires can be ugly, terrifying, and at least somewhat evil while still being appealing. I just wish there were a sequel.

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What can you say about a classic?

Revisado: 08-06-18

My favorite thing about this story: the powerful weapon is not the answer to the problem, but the foundation of it. It's a subversion of the tropes that quickly became common in the very genre that Tolkien created.

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Uneven characterization, fantastic world-building

Revisado: 07-27-18

This is very much a coming-of-age story in which a smart and determined heroine learns the hard truth that wits and stubbornness often fail against experience and information. That part I like. Aoife fails quite a bit in ways that help illuminate her weaknesses, as should happen in any good coming-of-age tale.

The world-building is also spectacular.

The book has two big weaknesses, though. The biggest is the amount of telling as opposed to showing in Aoife's relationships with her brother, Conrad, and her best friend, Cal. She keeps telling us how supportive and wonderful they are, but Cal spends most of the book being dismissive and chauvinistic, and Conrad only shows up a few times to chastise her for her foolishness. The glaring discrepancy makes it hard to take Aoife's judgment about people seriously.

It also feeds into the other problem and makes it much worse. Aoife has a bad habit of talking about things girls aren't allowed to do, and not in an "I'm going to prove them wrong" way. She meekly accepts that she's "just a girl" most of the time, raising the question of how she got the courage to try to become an engineer in the first place. The slightest bit of opposition seems to send her into a tailspin of self-doubt. Reasonable for an adolescent girl who has spent her life being told she isn't as rational or smart as a boy, maybe, but inconsistent with the things she's accomplished.

Even so, I like this book a lot for the world-buliding and because I'm a sucker for coming-of-age stories.

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