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amberl3af's review
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
Summary: Bland plot, lots of loose ends, dislikable and spoilt characters, disappointing ending
Tbh this is the worst book I’ve read. The first line, “When I was a baby, someone tied me to a boat and pushed me out to sea” is extremely optimistic but the rest of the book was extremely disappointing.
The characters were extremely one-dimensional and uninteresting to read about. They all had extremely similar, uninteresting dialogue and felt very flat and emotionless.
The main character, Crow, is extremely unlikable to the point where it’s unreadable. The problem with this is that she gets no character development. She is extremely rude and disrespectful, stealing her guardian’s (Osh’s) money because she thinks that he will be okay with it, and blatantly disobeying orders. She has an annoying mindset of “I’m almost 13, I can do whatever I like.” She does not get reprimanded in the slightest, when Osh finds out he essentially says “It’s fine, I forgive you” and turns a blind eye.
The plot was very confusing and messy. The main goal of the book was for Crow to find out who her parents were and find her brother. However, for some reason, there was a treasure hunt; her parents left her a vast sum of treasure which they needed to find. This was really messily added and took away from the search for family. It felt childish too, and I struggled to take it seriously. There was also a villain who added nothing but to make things a tiny bit harder for Crow. The villain felt very last minute as if the author said “all books need a villain, here’s one” and in any case the peak of their was Crow running away to call the police.
Crow become extremely obsessed with a complete stranger who she’s convinced is her brother because he works on a boat and they share the same hair colour. (Crow has a very common hair colour and they live in an island nation!) This turns into borderline stalking and she puts her life at risk for this stranger. It felt strange and uncomfortable especially when the other characters act like this is normal.
What I hated most was thatthe plot does not get resolved. The whole goal of her finding her brother doesn’t happen. There’s no good reason for this, her brother doesn’t die and it isn’t even a cliffhanger ending. Crow just gives up. It’s the most disappointing ending I’ve read. It was extremely underwhelming and I wasted all that time struggling through that book only to find out there was no point.
I think the goal of this was to send the message that “family doesn’t have to be blood related” but it didn’t feel like this. It felt like Crow literally just got bored and wanted to bathe in her newfound riches (because obviously they found the treasure no problem).
A better way of conveying this message, in my opinion, would be to make the villain Crow’s brother. It would tie in all the loose ends, make the villain actually do something and still give the same message without it just being “I quit.” But of course, that doesn’t happen. What a wasted opportunity. In fact, the whole book is a wasted opportunity.
Thank you for reading this review. Sorry it’s so long. It wouldn’t be this long if the book was better though…
Tbh this is the worst book I’ve read. The first line, “When I was a baby, someone tied me to a boat and pushed me out to sea” is extremely optimistic but the rest of the book was extremely disappointing.
The characters were extremely one-dimensional and uninteresting to read about. They all had extremely similar, uninteresting dialogue and felt very flat and emotionless.
The main character, Crow, is extremely unlikable to the point where it’s unreadable. The problem with this is that she gets no character development. She is extremely rude and disrespectful, stealing her guardian’s (Osh’s) money because she thinks that he will be okay with it, and blatantly disobeying orders. She has an annoying mindset of “I’m almost 13, I can do whatever I like.” She does not get reprimanded in the slightest, when Osh finds out he essentially says “It’s fine, I forgive you” and turns a blind eye.
The plot was very confusing and messy. The main goal of the book was for Crow to find out who her parents were and find her brother. However, for some reason, there was a treasure hunt; her parents left her a vast sum of treasure which they needed to find. This was really messily added and took away from the search for family. It felt childish too, and I struggled to take it seriously. There was also a villain who added nothing but to make things a tiny bit harder for Crow. The villain felt very last minute as if the author said “all books need a villain, here’s one” and in any case the peak of their was Crow running away to call the police.
Crow become extremely obsessed with a complete stranger who she’s convinced is her brother because he works on a boat and they share the same hair colour. (Crow has a very common hair colour and they live in an island nation!) This turns into borderline stalking and she puts her life at risk for this stranger. It felt strange and uncomfortable especially when the other characters act like this is normal.
What I hated most was that
Thank you for reading this review. Sorry it’s so long. It wouldn’t be this long if the book was better though…
Content Warnings
Moderate: Terminal illness
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