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embereye's review
4.0
This is a re-read but since I'm reading all the Chapel Hollow books (and this is veeery similar) I felt that I should re-read this one too.
sashahc's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Re-read an old comfort read of mine today. “A Fistful of Sky” by Nina Kiriki Hoffman is about Gypsum, a young adult from a magical family in Southern California. Unlike her siblings, she didn’t gain powers in adolescence and assumes herself normal. Except one day she does, and it’s an unkind power. It’s totally a vibes rather than plot #book and Gypsum is such a great character. It’s about family and how intertwined we are - the good and the bad. And about settling into ourselves. Highly rec’d.
deedoo's review
3.0
Great concept, but got kinda lost. The part where she is suppose to be figuring her powers/self out was more humdrum than interesting. And the ending was just weird. Not really satisfying to me. It kept me interested enough to not give up. That's the reason for the 3 stars. But I wouldn't recommend this book.
hazbean's review
1.0
Written in first person with an annoying voice, simplistic narrative structure, predictable plotline without foreshadowing or suspense.
humvee's review
4.0
Another quirky modern fantasy from Nina Kiriki Hoffman
This is probably the oddest "coming of age" story I've read. Gypsum is a likable, confused young adult. A late bloomer in a complicated family that doesn't reach her Transition until she's twenty. Her antagonist in the story is herself, this strange new person with powerful and dark magic that she must learn to coexist with. It took me a while to get into this story, but I liked it a lot.
This is probably the oddest "coming of age" story I've read. Gypsum is a likable, confused young adult. A late bloomer in a complicated family that doesn't reach her Transition until she's twenty. Her antagonist in the story is herself, this strange new person with powerful and dark magic that she must learn to coexist with. It took me a while to get into this story, but I liked it a lot.
tamaraneans's review
2.0
I've spent a good deal of time trying to come to terms with the feelings I have for this book. On the one hand, I find the characterizations intriguing and off-putting by turns and the entire idea of the story to be very, very interesting. But that's all I enjoy from this book. The idea and the concept.
A Fistful of Sky is about a young woman long resigned to her fate as the "normal" child of a magical family (aside from her normal father), but this is all turned upside down after her twentieth birthday, where after one harrowing weekend, Gypsum "Gyp" LaZelle undergoes the "Transition" and finally comes in to her powers.
Annnnd that's it. Honestly. Where the story could have become a beautiful coming-of-age, alternative lifestyle, accepting your family however they are and what they choose to be story, instead it makes a good show of family dynamics and putters out by about halfway through. The story in its entirety accomplishes nothing other than to introduce the concept of the LaZelle universe.
Do Gypsum and her family have to realize that family is more important than magical abilities and manipulating each other to get their way? Do they discuss and resolve the numerous and overwhelming sibling rivalry and familial issues that make up the core of this family dynamic? Do they ever have to deal with the fact that each of them did serious and unacceptable actions to each other and apologize for them? The answer is a resounding "ehhh not really, no".
Gypsum tells the author how badly she was treated by her family, but she never really reveals her feelings to her family. She never actually tells them how hurt by their actions she was, no matter how appalling they were. She gives little tidbits to them, but they never actually go anywhere and none of the siblings or her mother ever really apologize for what they've done in the past, which I find to be a grave failing on the author's part. What's the point of introducing all of those memories and scenes if not to discuss and alleviate those issues? Why add them in? For added mental distress to the reader?
And don't get me started on the actually plot arc. Hint: there isn't a cohesive, definitive one. Sure, Gypsum learns to accept herself and her power, but that's only after Altria, the mischievous spirit she summoned by accident, shows her how to lock away her power--easily and anticlimactically. This might as well have been done in the beginning for all the effort it did to get to that point in the book. There's little to no rising action--sure Gyp has to deal with the constant pressure of magic-build up unless she releases it, but she always finds a way to do so and the suspense just isn't there. It's like watching someone learn how to juggle; just because they drop the ball, there's no real damage to anything.
Ultimately, I'm disappointed in A Fistful of Sky. I feel jipped, really. There's nothing here for me that I can definitively say I liked in the book. The characters? No, each other them had more qualities I disliked than liked and some were just completely one-dimensional with no actual development. The execution? No, it had no definitive qualities to a story--like actual conflict, rising action and resolution. You cannot look me in the eye and tell me that any of the characters experienced consequences for their actions and learned any sort of definitive lesson. They simply never acknowledged their faults. There's just no---no real effort put in here by the characters and the story lacks so much of what it could be as a result. Everything is simple, easily resolved or pushed aside and because of that, I feel my time was wasted. I wanted a story about family and acceptance. I got a shoddy diary entry by what felt like a twenty-something girl who hadn't yet grown up. And what I got just doesn't work for me.
A Fistful of Sky is about a young woman long resigned to her fate as the "normal" child of a magical family (aside from her normal father), but this is all turned upside down after her twentieth birthday, where after one harrowing weekend, Gypsum "Gyp" LaZelle undergoes the "Transition" and finally comes in to her powers.
Annnnd that's it. Honestly. Where the story could have become a beautiful coming-of-age, alternative lifestyle, accepting your family however they are and what they choose to be story, instead it makes a good show of family dynamics and putters out by about halfway through. The story in its entirety accomplishes nothing other than to introduce the concept of the LaZelle universe.
Do Gypsum and her family have to realize that family is more important than magical abilities and manipulating each other to get their way? Do they discuss and resolve the numerous and overwhelming sibling rivalry and familial issues that make up the core of this family dynamic? Do they ever have to deal with the fact that each of them did serious and unacceptable actions to each other and apologize for them? The answer is a resounding "ehhh not really, no".
Gypsum tells the author how badly she was treated by her family, but she never really reveals her feelings to her family. She never actually tells them how hurt by their actions she was, no matter how appalling they were. She gives little tidbits to them, but they never actually go anywhere and none of the siblings or her mother ever really apologize for what they've done in the past, which I find to be a grave failing on the author's part. What's the point of introducing all of those memories and scenes if not to discuss and alleviate those issues? Why add them in? For added mental distress to the reader?
And don't get me started on the actually plot arc. Hint: there isn't a cohesive, definitive one. Sure, Gypsum learns to accept herself and her power, but that's only after Altria, the mischievous spirit she summoned by accident, shows her how to lock away her power--easily and anticlimactically. This might as well have been done in the beginning for all the effort it did to get to that point in the book. There's little to no rising action--sure Gyp has to deal with the constant pressure of magic-build up unless she releases it, but she always finds a way to do so and the suspense just isn't there. It's like watching someone learn how to juggle; just because they drop the ball, there's no real damage to anything.
Ultimately, I'm disappointed in A Fistful of Sky. I feel jipped, really. There's nothing here for me that I can definitively say I liked in the book. The characters? No, each other them had more qualities I disliked than liked and some were just completely one-dimensional with no actual development. The execution? No, it had no definitive qualities to a story--like actual conflict, rising action and resolution. You cannot look me in the eye and tell me that any of the characters experienced consequences for their actions and learned any sort of definitive lesson. They simply never acknowledged their faults. There's just no---no real effort put in here by the characters and the story lacks so much of what it could be as a result. Everything is simple, easily resolved or pushed aside and because of that, I feel my time was wasted. I wanted a story about family and acceptance. I got a shoddy diary entry by what felt like a twenty-something girl who hadn't yet grown up. And what I got just doesn't work for me.
readingtheend's review
2.5
gosh I found this really chaotic! when the character's power comes on, she keeps doing really horrible things with it by accident or on purpose. it felt almost Diana Wynne Jonesy in terms of the family dynamics, but without the underlying wisdom and charm. (harsh) I was stressed, stressed, stressed by the constant need to burn off power, and the book ended without anything feeling particularly resolved.
mjfmjfmjf's review
4.0
I couldn't concentrate on what I was reading and I was working too hard. So a good time to go to a reread. Hoffman is one of my favorite writers, I wish she wrote quite a bit more. This was the first book I ever read of hers and I picked it up for the cover. It rambles a bit, and psychic powers after a transition period is certainly a trope, but she definitely does something different with this world.
hannahilea's review
4.0
This was one of those books that I got halfway through before I realized how much I was actually enjoying myself. It pulls off first-person narrative decently well, and was definitely a different sort of fantasy/magical ability novel. One with likable characters, a properly intriguing slightly off mother, and some very, very tension-charged encounters with "self."
I wish I knew what inspired me to read this --it showed up on the shelf as a book I'd requested from the A2 library, and while I can vaguely remember searching for it in the card catalog, but I can't for the life of me figure out why...as far as I know, I've never encountered the author before, and I can't remember ever talking about it with anyone...
I wish I knew what inspired me to read this --it showed up on the shelf as a book I'd requested from the A2 library, and while I can vaguely remember searching for it in the card catalog, but I can't for the life of me figure out why...as far as I know, I've never encountered the author before, and I can't remember ever talking about it with anyone...