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4.06 AVERAGE
4.06 AVERAGE
I love this book so much. I discovered Charles de Lint by coming upon Widdershins, a later novel, by accident this summer. I fell in love with the way de Lint uses faerie and myth to explore human relationships and the way our histories impact who we become.
He does the same in this book, but it is even more powerful. The issues that he touches on are so heavy that they can be too much for literary fiction, but the elements of fantasy provide just enough comfort that we can go deep. The character of Jilly becomes rich and truly human over the course of this book, and so does that of Raylene. Neither of them are perfect, and we love them because of it.
I can't wait to go back and read some of the earlier Newford books.
He does the same in this book, but it is even more powerful. The issues that he touches on are so heavy that they can be too much for literary fiction, but the elements of fantasy provide just enough comfort that we can go deep. The character of Jilly becomes rich and truly human over the course of this book, and so does that of Raylene. Neither of them are perfect, and we love them because of it.
I can't wait to go back and read some of the earlier Newford books.
I don't think I hated this, but I definitely have a lot of problems with it and did not enjoy it.
Kendra review:
Kendra review:
Spoiler
Significant child abuse, molestation, & rape.
I've been meaning to try this author for a good long while, and I'm glad I did. I think I would like to read more. This novel is a fantasy, but like the best fantasy, it's deeply entrenched in reality. In this case, some of worst symptoms of reality, actually. But it stays hopeful.
This book ATE MY LIFE. Seriously, I cannot remember EVER taking more than a month to read a book. I will say, though, that I was dreading the ending, because I thought I knew what happened. I was wrong, interestingly enough, which means that I need to find other de Lint Newford novels so I can find out when the thing that I knew what was going to happen, happens. de Lint is fabulous, still, though.
Not for me. Urban fantasy. Feels too much like it was written in the nineties, which it was. Doesn't transcend the tropes of that time period, unfortunately. I might try De Lint again, however.
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I enjoyed certain aspects of it, but I just didn't feel it was that well written.
This book was incredibly addicting. I loved it. It was the first Charles de Lint book I read and I plan to read many more because of it.
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual assault
This was an interesting book, I have many (conflicting) opinions about it. On one hand, I found it amusing and overall, well, enchanting. On the other hand, I found it highly unrealistic (beside the faerie and dreamland element) and that the author was trying to paint a picture of something he didn't fully understand (yet, he captured a few things very well, like Raylene's programing skills).
The story revolves around the parallel yet radically different lives lived by Jilly and her little sister Raylene. Although both had similarly horrific childhoods, Raylene has one more tragedy to deal with than Jilly - her sister's abandonment of her, leaving her knowingly to a life of misery. This pivotal moment serves as a crux for Raylene, who's life is shaped by this event and she can not let it go. Jilly, on the other hand, eventually finds her path and tries to spend as much acceptance and love as she can.
I found Raylene to be my favorite character (at least the Raylene of the first half of the book). Raylene is this spunky girl who's had a lot of shit thrown in her fan, but she fights back with the aid of her closest friend, Pinky Miller. Also, Raylene is the one intelligent female in this book - it's her best trait. She can easily solve problems and manipulate her way out of a sticky situation just on her astuteness. I looked forward to the Raylene chapters - they were always unique and interesting, constantly changing with Raylene growing stronger with every chapter.
However, Raylene suddenly about half way through the book develops this overwhelming strong hatred for her sister Jillian. Sure, de Lint mentions Raylene's abandonment issues with Jillian; however, it seemed to me like de Lint suddenly wanted that to be the driving force in the plot, so Raylene suddenly becomes all consumed with her hatred for Jillian. This is the main issue I had with de Lint's writing style - I didn't really believe a lot of the character interactions and the source of their emotions. Sure, you could argue that one who has been as traumatically abused as Raylene and Jillian have will not react as expected or appropriately to a situation, but de Lint fails to fully capture this emotion for me with his slight inconsistencies in the plot line. Another example of this is when Jilly talks about her drug and hooker days - it's just not believable. De Lint throws out terms like "junkie" and "pimp", but you can tell he is writing about something he doesn't fully understand or can relate to. If you are that addicted to cocaine, it takes more than detox and a kind person to immediately cure you, which seems to be the case with Jilly.
De Lint does do some elements really well, nonetheless. I appreciated his ability to capture the depth of the interactions and intimacies of a triad of females. Wendy, Sophie, and Jilly have an incredibly close friendship, and I felt like De Lint captured the group mentality well, with Wendy toward the end mentioning how she felt left out because Jilly and Sophie were able to go to the dreamlands and she couldn't. Just in that simple statement de Lint was able to perceive the depth and insecurity that always arises in a group of three close girlfriends - a stronger relationship will form between two, leaving one left out, or a alpha will emerge in the group.
Overall, this book was good. The only way I can think to sum it up is as a "dark light-hearted book", which is a paradox unto itself. I would recommend this book to a preteen or a dreamer.
The story revolves around the parallel yet radically different lives lived by Jilly and her little sister Raylene. Although both had similarly horrific childhoods, Raylene has one more tragedy to deal with than Jilly - her sister's abandonment of her, leaving her knowingly to a life of misery. This pivotal moment serves as a crux for Raylene, who's life is shaped by this event and she can not let it go. Jilly, on the other hand, eventually finds her path and tries to spend as much acceptance and love as she can.
I found Raylene to be my favorite character (at least the Raylene of the first half of the book). Raylene is this spunky girl who's had a lot of shit thrown in her fan, but she fights back with the aid of her closest friend, Pinky Miller. Also, Raylene is the one intelligent female in this book - it's her best trait. She can easily solve problems and manipulate her way out of a sticky situation just on her astuteness. I looked forward to the Raylene chapters - they were always unique and interesting, constantly changing with Raylene growing stronger with every chapter.
However, Raylene suddenly about half way through the book develops this overwhelming strong hatred for her sister Jillian. Sure, de Lint mentions Raylene's abandonment issues with Jillian; however, it seemed to me like de Lint suddenly wanted that to be the driving force in the plot, so Raylene suddenly becomes all consumed with her hatred for Jillian. This is the main issue I had with de Lint's writing style - I didn't really believe a lot of the character interactions and the source of their emotions. Sure, you could argue that one who has been as traumatically abused as Raylene and Jillian have will not react as expected or appropriately to a situation, but de Lint fails to fully capture this emotion for me with his slight inconsistencies in the plot line. Another example of this is when Jilly talks about her drug and hooker days - it's just not believable. De Lint throws out terms like "junkie" and "pimp", but you can tell he is writing about something he doesn't fully understand or can relate to. If you are that addicted to cocaine, it takes more than detox and a kind person to immediately cure you, which seems to be the case with Jilly.
De Lint does do some elements really well, nonetheless. I appreciated his ability to capture the depth of the interactions and intimacies of a triad of females. Wendy, Sophie, and Jilly have an incredibly close friendship, and I felt like De Lint captured the group mentality well, with Wendy toward the end mentioning how she felt left out because Jilly and Sophie were able to go to the dreamlands and she couldn't. Just in that simple statement de Lint was able to perceive the depth and insecurity that always arises in a group of three close girlfriends - a stronger relationship will form between two, leaving one left out, or a alpha will emerge in the group.
Overall, this book was good. The only way I can think to sum it up is as a "dark light-hearted book", which is a paradox unto itself. I would recommend this book to a preteen or a dreamer.