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reigna's review against another edition
3.0
A solid effort, but I would have liked a little more world building and explanation. Some of the twists seemed pretty predictable as well. Overall, what struck me the most was that there was never any real sense of urgency or danger for me, not while Ashala was being interrogated by the evil Neville Rose and not even during the end, which made the whole thing a lot more lacking in emotional impact.
Spoiler
(like the interrogation machine actually being a dog? and memories are bones? not to mention Grandpa Serpent, who seems to have immeasurable power but only uses it to bring Ashala's boyfriend back to life, because if he dies, she apparently can't function and protect the forest anymore)Spoiler
, such as Connor actually being on their side the entire time and later on, Connor dying and coming back to life within a few pagesgirlfriday4's review against another edition
4.0
A few pages in, I thought, oh, just another teenage super-power book - but then suddenly it started exploring memory, sustainability, and connection to country, and got a whole lot more interesting.
glory_or_walhalla's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
plumeriade's review
2.0
i wanted to like this. i really really wanted to! and it's not a bad book, but it's just really lacking. the worldbuilding is done solely by adding some capital letters to things. The Question. The Balance. there is very little real tension to drive the plot forward, and next to no character development.
really, it's like the author took one chapter, a few days, from a book that should have been in the middle of the series and stretched it out over the entire first book... that's kinda what it feels like. just doesn't work :(
really, it's like the author took one chapter, a few days, from a book that should have been in the middle of the series and stretched it out over the entire first book... that's kinda what it feels like. just doesn't work :(
tania_mybookishsecret's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Torture
orlofthebooks's review against another edition
2.0
70%
The first 150 ish pages were not the best due to confusing world-building. However I grew to love the story and the last chapter made my cry. Would recommend if you can deal with confusing occurrences throughout the whole story
The first 150 ish pages were not the best due to confusing world-building. However I grew to love the story and the last chapter made my cry. Would recommend if you can deal with confusing occurrences throughout the whole story
irisestacansado's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
macbean221b's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 STARS
There were some things, as I was reading, that made me roll my eyes or wrinkle my nose, but it held my attention and kept me entertained, and when I reached the end, the author's notes won me over even more. I've added the other books in this series to my reading list.
There were some things, as I was reading, that made me roll my eyes or wrinkle my nose, but it held my attention and kept me entertained, and when I reached the end, the author's notes won me over even more. I've added the other books in this series to my reading list.
bookdeviant's review
4.0
See more of my reviews on my blog the Book Deviant
I was taken by complete surprise when I started The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf. To be honest, I was expecting just another YA dystopia with the not-like-other-girls main lead, and with how long this one is, I was expecting to DNF when the book was forcibly returned to the library database.
I was also completely wrong.
The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf is like a dystopian X-Men with a bunch of teens. The world building was much more in-depth than that though, referencing things like the Balance, the Reckoning, and the Accords. While the narrative mentioned events like these, it never bothered to go into them, letting you decide on what happened, while focusing on the story. I personally really enjoy this, because why would I care about what happened centuries ago? The focus on the plot really helped me stay interested, and soon enough I found that I had read a good 50% in a day.
I loved all of the characters, although some of them took awhile to appreciate. Ashala was not one of those stereotypical dystopian protagonists, and I loved how Kwaymullina let her have a ‘special’ ability, but not the most outrageous one she could think of. Other characters had really amazing abilities, but a lot of them were unique, while some were rare, etc. There were Firestarters, and people who could fly, and read memories, and predict the future. The universe was so unique, supposedly an agglomeration of the world into one continent. It was mostly based off of Australia, though, and you could really see it in the story!
The diversity was also amazing. Although there were no queer characters, the amount of indigenous and people of color in the story was truly wonderful. Ashala is native, while Georgie has dark skin. So many other characters were described with dark skin, and, because of the world building, there was literally no racism. I loved how Kwaymullina tackled the ‘no-racism’ part of the story too, because there literally was no racism, not even microaggresions as far as I could tell. Kwaymulina wrote with extreme sensitivity, as well as strength, giving the story a ferocious character that you’ll fall in love with.
My biggest problem with The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf was the timeline. Since I don’t want to give away too much, I’ll just say that the beginning is very confusing, and very misleading. It was very hard to get past the slowness of the beginning, and what was worse is that you’re basically dropped in the middle of a scene with little to no explanation, and have to wait for a while to get somewhat of an understanding. If you split the book in half, though, the first half is what you need to get past. The second half explains everything, and makes the wait so much better. While the story was at first slow and very confusing, I ultimately really enjoyed how this one went.
four stars - Overall?
The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf was a complete and utter surprise to me, and it should not be missed. While it was really slow in the beginning as well as extremely confusing, when the pieces are finally put together, it is an amazing read.
Would I Recommend?
I enjoyed it so much, and cannot recommend it enough. A YA diversity with a decent protagonist, originality, AND diversity? I need the next book. Please. I ordered it on my library’s e-book database, but there’s no guarantee that they will get it.
I was taken by complete surprise when I started The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf. To be honest, I was expecting just another YA dystopia with the not-like-other-girls main lead, and with how long this one is, I was expecting to DNF when the book was forcibly returned to the library database.
I was also completely wrong.
The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf is like a dystopian X-Men with a bunch of teens. The world building was much more in-depth than that though, referencing things like the Balance, the Reckoning, and the Accords. While the narrative mentioned events like these, it never bothered to go into them, letting you decide on what happened, while focusing on the story. I personally really enjoy this, because why would I care about what happened centuries ago? The focus on the plot really helped me stay interested, and soon enough I found that I had read a good 50% in a day.
I loved all of the characters, although some of them took awhile to appreciate. Ashala was not one of those stereotypical dystopian protagonists, and I loved how Kwaymullina let her have a ‘special’ ability, but not the most outrageous one she could think of. Other characters had really amazing abilities, but a lot of them were unique, while some were rare, etc. There were Firestarters, and people who could fly, and read memories, and predict the future. The universe was so unique, supposedly an agglomeration of the world into one continent. It was mostly based off of Australia, though, and you could really see it in the story!
The diversity was also amazing. Although there were no queer characters, the amount of indigenous and people of color in the story was truly wonderful. Ashala is native, while Georgie has dark skin. So many other characters were described with dark skin, and, because of the world building, there was literally no racism. I loved how Kwaymullina tackled the ‘no-racism’ part of the story too, because there literally was no racism, not even microaggresions as far as I could tell. Kwaymulina wrote with extreme sensitivity, as well as strength, giving the story a ferocious character that you’ll fall in love with.
My biggest problem with The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf was the timeline. Since I don’t want to give away too much, I’ll just say that the beginning is very confusing, and very misleading. It was very hard to get past the slowness of the beginning, and what was worse is that you’re basically dropped in the middle of a scene with little to no explanation, and have to wait for a while to get somewhat of an understanding. If you split the book in half, though, the first half is what you need to get past. The second half explains everything, and makes the wait so much better. While the story was at first slow and very confusing, I ultimately really enjoyed how this one went.
four stars - Overall?
The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf was a complete and utter surprise to me, and it should not be missed. While it was really slow in the beginning as well as extremely confusing, when the pieces are finally put together, it is an amazing read.
Would I Recommend?
I enjoyed it so much, and cannot recommend it enough. A YA diversity with a decent protagonist, originality, AND diversity? I need the next book. Please. I ordered it on my library’s e-book database, but there’s no guarantee that they will get it.
cassie_the_weird's review against another edition
5.0
Ok, so it started a bit weird, but once I got into it, it was fantastic.