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3.04 AVERAGE
3.04 AVERAGE
Something was missing from this book. For lack of a better word, I will call it personality. It has all the right plot elements: two young people, brought together by chance, the only ones who can affect the outcome of the pending apocolyptic battle between good and evil. It has an Indonesian/far-eastern setting, and the mythologies are cluttered with unfamiliar names and incomplete explanations. Perhaps this is partly why I never really felt invested in the characters or situation. I have asked my kids to read it; perhaps their opinions will be more favorable.
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The book had an interesting premise, but new characters and places were introduced quite fast, and I didn't feel like I got to ever know them. Thus I found myself hardly caring of what was happening.
This book was too cliche and predictable. The plot was not engaging enough and the character's did not inspire any loyalty. The good guys won a little too easily. Masson tried to incorporate some complexity, but failed to make it entertaining. Overall, a cliche fantasy book that was not worth reading
This one started out OK, but it was kind of a mess. Plenty of action, but it wasn't making a lot of sense. I didn't understand the mythology of the figures involved or the belief system or anything. I gave up on it - plenty of other things to read out there!
I loved this book! The plot was very original and had tons of unexpected twists.
Some of my classmates more familiar with Indonesian culture noted that this did have a very Indonesian feel, but that there were some things (particularly with regard to the deities) that were just not right, in a way that didn't seem to make sense for the alternate universe Masson was creating. There are some neat things in this book, but ultimately we all felt like it came down on the wrong side of cultural appropriation.
Spoilers:
Also, I was very disappointed that a fundamentalist Muslim character turned out to be the bad guy after all. It looked for awhile like he was going to be an important good character, but no, bad. What a cliche.
Spoilers:
Also, I was very disappointed that a fundamentalist Muslim character turned out to be the bad guy after all. It looked for awhile like he was going to be an important good character, but no, bad. What a cliche.