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3.33 AVERAGE
3.33 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I finished this so long ago and I just remember thinking it was weird
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
This novel was certainly a journey. First, the good: Piper has some exquisite language throughout, as I have come to expect from her writing. Really lyrical, delicious passages that you want to highlight and repeat aloud and just think about again and again. I enjoyed the overall story, which wasn’t entirely new or unique but was definitely a fresh exploration of sci-fi ideas. The pacing, too, was great, with the narrative really pushing you along, never meandering, propulsive while somehow always a step ahead of you, pulling you along. What brought the story down for me, most, was the characters. Now, where they ended up, at the end of the novel? Incredible, complicated, really exciting characters. But it took time to get there. For the first half of the book the characters and their choices just felt sloppy, for lack of another word. It was hard to be invested in them, or their wants or desires or decisions. Now, when you reach the halfway mark all of a sudden there are plot revelations that go a long way to explaining why the characters are the way they are, and in many ways a new journey begins for them at that point. Plot and theme-wise, this all makes sense. And I love when information from later parts of a story cause me to re-evaluate the early parts of the story. But the levels of frustration I had with what felt like sloppy writing for the first half, well, that was hard to overlook. Yes, it turns out it wasn’t sloppy writing at all, but that was still my experience of that first half, enough so that I considered DNFing. I am glad I didn’t, but it took to the end of the story for me to really feel that way. Similarly, the story wants to be about larger ideas: about family and friendship, autonomy and codependence and loneliness, grief and growth, but these can only be explored cautiously for the first half, due to the way the narrative is structured, and the action-packed second half doesn’t have the space to explore these maybe as much as the overall story seems to want to.
It's a good novel. I was invested by the end and I thought it was creative and moving and left me with a lot to think about. But it really felt like an uphill battle of the first half of the book before I could really see it shine. Luckily, as I mentioned at the outset, there is beautiful language throughout, and that along with a confidence in Piper’s abilities was enough to compel me through, and I am glad I continued.
It's a good novel. I was invested by the end and I thought it was creative and moving and left me with a lot to think about. But it really felt like an uphill battle of the first half of the book before I could really see it shine. Luckily, as I mentioned at the outset, there is beautiful language throughout, and that along with a confidence in Piper’s abilities was enough to compel me through, and I am glad I continued.
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes