Reviews tagging 'War'

Mislaid in Parts Half-Known by Seanan McGuire

4 reviews

ritabriar's review

adventurous tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This book continues the delightful pattern of the series of showing us how these characters interact, where their biases and abilities and losses conflict and complement. Each character has their own shifting motivations, always similar enough to keep them moving forward together on their quest... until one or more does not go forward anymore. Since the doors themselves respond to the children's certainty, the plot is driven by an intersection of the characters and the universe.

Let's talk about the dinosaurs. Delightful, no notes. Feathered, brightly-colored, and fluffy, plus viciously terrifying.

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jessicadoom's review against another edition

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informative reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

This certainly wasn't my favorite of the series thus far. Maybe it's about time for it to end if we're running out of personal stories to tell? It just felt like we weren't given much insight into any one specific character, which is what I love most out of this series. Yes, we were able to see a couple more worlds, but not through the eyes of those who end up in them. I feel like this story could have been better served as a short story instead of the full novella.

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imstephtacular's review

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

I will read this series forever. Every entry continues to be wild and unique and riveting and I am glad this particular installment was a return to a group of already lover characters

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beefthedwarf's review

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adventurous hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

Mislaid in Parts Half-known - 3.35

Review Summary:

Mislaid in Parts Half-known is a quest book — a book in the Wayward Children’s series where a cast of students go on a quest, often briefly visiting a series of worlds. I’m not a huge fan of these installments, but I see the purpose of them. I just wish they were handled better!

The dialogue between the characters felt unnatural, exhaustive, and way, way over-explained. Rather than weave certain things into the plot, Seanan McGuire has her characters talk at us, the readers, and each other. They don’t sound human when they do it. They sound like a Wikipedia article.

Furthermore, I felt like we kept just getting more lost and lost in the weeds of what these doors mean, and it’s not feeling consistent.

However, I did enjoy seeing some old and new characters interact with each other, and it was good to see Antsy come into her powers. Seraphina was frighteningly powerful, though I was disappointed, since I thought (by the plot description) that she was going to be a primary character along with Antsy. The flickerings of

Eleanor’s dementia

are both haunting and exciting, too —

what will her fate be? Will Kade be there to take over when she’s gone?

Exhaustive Review (spoilers):

World/System/Premise
The setting/location/time, the magic system(s), story premise, etc
Examples: “London, 1881”, “magic utilizing tarot cards”, “a world ruled by necromancers”

Was it engaging / interesting?

Rating: 3 - The world/system/premise had high potential, but the implementation was lackluster.

The flaw, honestly, was in over-explanation through dialogue. My eyes started going in different directions. This was way too much info for 150 pages, especially folded over and repeated over and over.

How fleshed-out was the worldbuilding?

Rating: 3 - The world/system/premise was somewhat fleshed out, with a few gaps/inconsistencies that affected understanding of the world/system/premise. It felt like the author just didn't think about some things.

Mislaid undid some of the work of Lost in the Moment. Antsy says that once a door is closed in the Store, it’s gone forever, but the rest of the text doesn’t support that.

However, it does continue to expand on the Doors as a system, and how they work, even if it’s a little confusing or inconsistent.

Writing Style / Prose
Sentence structure, vocabulary, style of prose, and overall accuracy and readability of the writing itself.

Spelling / grammar / formatting errors

Rating: 5 - No errors

Vocabulary and Sentence Structure

Rating: 4 - Mostly mature and readable. A little too verbose / simplistic at times. Sentence structures are mostly easy to follow.

Seanan McGuire’s prose is as good as ever… that is, however much was actually in this installment.

Internal / External Dialogue

Rating: 2 - There was a lot of (unnecessary) internal / external dialogue.

This book was inundated with unnatural, hamfisted dialogue. Characters explaining and over-explaining the world and themselves over, and over, and over. Minorities talking about their lives and identities the same way a guest character talks about themselves in a PBS “Very Special Episode.”
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/VerySpecialEpisode

Emotional Impact

Rating: 3 - Some emotional scenes felt forced or unearned, but not all of them.

I felt for Antsy and her anger at Vineta, especially the way the woman kept dismissing her. I also felt gripping terror for our dear Hudson, and sadness for our Kade, who loves and hates his world in equal measure.

I also got hit in the gut at the end, too, when Kade loses yet another friend, especially when it just started to seem like he might like Cora back.

However — ugh, the dialogue. Furthermore, Antsy’s newfound powers seemed to just pop up for her. Advancement didn’t feel particularly earned.

I also felt like Cora’s return to the Trenches would have meant more in Where The Drowned Girls Go.

One more thing: I get it that Sumi has been around a while, and has developed wisdom beyond her years, and is the most Sure kid in the entire cast — but how many speeches is she gonna make about it? Her role as the most confident, untold leader of the Quest Gang, as a parallel to Eleanor West, could be such an important staple in the series. It just felt overtold and undershown.

Plot Flow
Pacing, plotline, scene structure, act structure, approach to climax, etc.

Pacing

Rating: 4 - Slow beginning / middle or too much action that does not affect enjoyment.

Eh, it was fine. Slow parts have a higher impact on shorter books.

Scene Structure

Rating: 5 - There is a clear path between scenes; if it’s unclear due to the complexity of the story, it can be cleared up upon a satisfying re-read.

Plot vs. Character Interaction

Rating: 3 - Characters usually interact within the parameters of the plot, but things often happen because the author needs it to.

Our cast was driven on a quest by the irresistible Seraphina, who was literally busting down their doors. The paradigm of The Store shifts due to our characters’ actions.

However, I felt like a lot of the character’s were just… there for the ride. And with their voices cluttering up the already over-saturated dialogue, it detracted from the book.

Furthermore, as I mentioned, it didn’t feel like Antsy really did anything to gain the power(s) she came into.

Approach to Climax

Rating: 4 - The rising action / climax seems to come on suddenly, but there is still anticipation for the resolution.

We knew we were reaching a climax once Antsy reached The Place Where Lost Things Go, but since that happened the second door they opened, it felt a little jarring.

The Ending
The conclusion of the story, including climax, post-climax, and epilogue.

Satisfaction

Rating: 3 - Slightly fumbled ending; poor implementation, but it doesn’t ruin the whole book.

Eh. I didn’t feel like anyone really earned anything. The most, I would say, was resolve to only return home when their door chose them again — but that felt a little contrived to avoid the obvious happy ending every character would want. Why would this entire cast of characters, with wildly different personalities, all come to the same conclusion?

Loose Ends

Rating: 4 - Misses one or two loose ends. If a series, the loose ends aren't reliant on an ongoing plot / mystery.

You can argue with me on this, but I feel like Sumi not talking to Kade about the goblins was a loose end. Also, Kade was crowned by the Goblin King himself as he died — why wouldn’t he guess, maybe even a little, that they had a culture surrounding that? Why is he so sure they’d punish him? Hmmm.

Characterization

The handling of characters, their personalities, motivations, and relationships to each other

Personality, Goals, and Motivations

Rating: 3 - Some characters aren’t very fleshed out. It's not always clear why they're here or why they do what they do.

One thing almost all the characters have in common is that they traveled Somewhere, and they want to get back, with varying levels of hesitation. But their desperation to go home is almost always extinguished at the moment of highest temptation because they all reach the same exact conclusion about their doors coming back to them when they’re “ready”.

I can understand the philosophy, but previous books have shown us that tragic circumstances can separate a child from their Door, sure or ready or not. These are children who have watched their peers die waiting on a door they wanted more than anything. These are children who are growing up fast, who slipped through the cracks once and aren’t sure if they’ll slip through again. It’s more than a little frustrating that the temptation is dangled in front of them, but rather than have them grapple with it in any meaningful fashion to the plot, they just make the “right” choice because it’s convenient to the plot.

Relationships

Rating: 3 - The relationships are somewhat fleshed out, but feel neglected by the plot. Some relationships seemed changed or forgotten.

The Quest Gang have a pretty strong rapport, and understand each other’s joys and pains well. However, I wish we could see more development other than just references to their previous adventures. Every character still seems to be an island.

~Vibes~
The atmosphere of the book, that je ne sais quoi.

Connection To Readers

Rating: 3 - Nothing particularly mind blowing, but it’s okay

Originality

Rating: 3 - It’s been done before, but it’s not overdone / it’s a somewhat refreshing take.

The Itch

Rating: 2 - Hints at the itch, but ultimately fails to deliver. Readers feel deprived.

Maybe it’s unfair to keep comparing recent books to the first couple books in the Wayward Children series. This book didn’t carry the same magic with it, in my opinion.

Score: 3.35

There’s No Accounting For Taste!
The bonus round where I arbitrarily add or take away points based on my own personal preferences ;3

Pros:
Fat main character — +2
Queer main characters — +2
Characters of color — +1 (I’d argue they’re not main)
Disabled characters — +1

Cons:
Unrepresented Representation (jarring and hamfisted implementation of representation checklist) — -1 (See my Very Special Episode complaint. Also Vineta being a villain when there are so few prominent COC :\)
Not enough screen time for my blorbos — -2

6 for, 3 against. No extra stars :)

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