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A review by bookph1le
The Secrets of Solace by Jaleigh Johnson
3.0
3.5 stars. A solid middle grade fantasy novel. I like this series and the world Johnson has created. Complete review to come.
Full review:
I enjoyed Johnson's first book, The Mark of the Dragonfly, so when I saw this one, I was eager to read it. It was a bit different than I expected, but that wasn't a bad thing. Though it's set in the same world as the first book, it takes place in a different part of the world and concerns a new cast of characters. Some spoilers to follow.
This time around, the reader gets an inside look a Solace, a mountain stronghold that's the home of the archivists, a nation of men and women who devote their lives to studying the mysterious artifacts that appear in their world. Lina is a born tinker and scholar, but she's dealing with the aftermath of her parents' death and her guardian's subsequent withdrawal from her. Complicating things further, the archivists are trying to straddle the fence, refusing to take sides in the war between two other major nations.
Some of the strongest themes in this book are tied to Lina's situation, but what held the book back a little from being really strong for me was that they're not addressed until later in the novel, and then they're tied up rather quickly, as if all the plot threads are being gathered together and dealt with at once. There are some really moving scenes between Lina and Zara, her guardian, in which Lina realizes that adults sometimes make stupid decisions when they're mourning the loss of people they care about. I really liked that Zara was allowed to be flawed and that it hurt her relationship with Lina, but I wish more of that had been woven into the book. For a good chunk of the narrative, the reader sees Lina's bewilderment and hurt at Zara's neglect, but we're never given a good reason for it until it's sweepingly resolved.
There's a similar revelation between Lina and Simon, another apprentice. Simon is an antagonist for most of the book, his actions seemingly driven by his vindictive need to put Lina in her place while also making himself look good before his own master. The problem is, when the reader is given sudden insight into what makes Simon tick, it just seems so abrupt. He has excellent points, and I liked how the author expressed how a picture can look very different when you look at it from inside instead of the outside, but I wish there had been more hints as to where that particular thread was going. Simon was, to me, underserved, and while I did like the change in his character, I didn't entirely buy into it because of the lack of build up.
All of that sounds like a lot of criticism of the book, but it's driven more out of disappointment for how close the book came to being really extraordinary. I really liked this book and felt that if it had been nudged just a bit more it could have been even better because there are so many things it does well. The friendship between Lina and Ozben is truly lovely. It starts out rather opportunistic, but then it delves into some very deep territory once Lina and Ozben start sharing more of their inner selves with one another. There are so many themes here about love, sacrifice, and betrayal, and I thought they were all very well done. I like embedded messages in books like these about how our actions can sometimes have very painful consequences for others, even when we're not aiming to hurt anyone.
I also really enjoy the world building in these books. I'm very curious about where the artifacts come from, so I'm hoping there will be future books that delve more into this aspect. While reading the first book, I was very intrigued by the idea of a nation of scholars, so I enjoyed the insiders look into Solace, which is a pretty fascinating concept. The descriptions of it are very vivid, and I often felt on the verge of shivering whenever Johnson described the cold in the mountains. I love books and love studying, so I for one am a big fan of the concept of a nation built on scholarly pursuits, and Solace became one of those book settings I wished was real because I'd so love to visit it, much like Hogwarts.
I look forward to reading more books from this author. Though these are fantasy novels, they're not the typical high fantasy that's chock full of dragons and elves, which to me is a good thing. It's not that I'm uninterested in those kinds of creatures, it's that I gravitate more toward fantasy novels that invent their own creatures and worlds, and that's one of the great strengths of these first two books. While there are common threads that hold them together, the settings depicted in this novel are quite different from those depicted in the first, making it obvious that Johnson has a very clear, detailed, and broad picture of her world, and I hope she'll continue to expand on it.
Full review:
I enjoyed Johnson's first book, The Mark of the Dragonfly, so when I saw this one, I was eager to read it. It was a bit different than I expected, but that wasn't a bad thing. Though it's set in the same world as the first book, it takes place in a different part of the world and concerns a new cast of characters. Some spoilers to follow.
This time around, the reader gets an inside look a Solace, a mountain stronghold that's the home of the archivists, a nation of men and women who devote their lives to studying the mysterious artifacts that appear in their world. Lina is a born tinker and scholar, but she's dealing with the aftermath of her parents' death and her guardian's subsequent withdrawal from her. Complicating things further, the archivists are trying to straddle the fence, refusing to take sides in the war between two other major nations.
Some of the strongest themes in this book are tied to Lina's situation, but what held the book back a little from being really strong for me was that they're not addressed until later in the novel, and then they're tied up rather quickly, as if all the plot threads are being gathered together and dealt with at once. There are some really moving scenes between Lina and Zara, her guardian, in which Lina realizes that adults sometimes make stupid decisions when they're mourning the loss of people they care about. I really liked that Zara was allowed to be flawed and that it hurt her relationship with Lina, but I wish more of that had been woven into the book. For a good chunk of the narrative, the reader sees Lina's bewilderment and hurt at Zara's neglect, but we're never given a good reason for it until it's sweepingly resolved.
There's a similar revelation between Lina and Simon, another apprentice. Simon is an antagonist for most of the book, his actions seemingly driven by his vindictive need to put Lina in her place while also making himself look good before his own master. The problem is, when the reader is given sudden insight into what makes Simon tick, it just seems so abrupt. He has excellent points, and I liked how the author expressed how a picture can look very different when you look at it from inside instead of the outside, but I wish there had been more hints as to where that particular thread was going. Simon was, to me, underserved, and while I did like the change in his character, I didn't entirely buy into it because of the lack of build up.
All of that sounds like a lot of criticism of the book, but it's driven more out of disappointment for how close the book came to being really extraordinary. I really liked this book and felt that if it had been nudged just a bit more it could have been even better because there are so many things it does well. The friendship between Lina and Ozben is truly lovely. It starts out rather opportunistic, but then it delves into some very deep territory once Lina and Ozben start sharing more of their inner selves with one another. There are so many themes here about love, sacrifice, and betrayal, and I thought they were all very well done. I like embedded messages in books like these about how our actions can sometimes have very painful consequences for others, even when we're not aiming to hurt anyone.
I also really enjoy the world building in these books. I'm very curious about where the artifacts come from, so I'm hoping there will be future books that delve more into this aspect. While reading the first book, I was very intrigued by the idea of a nation of scholars, so I enjoyed the insiders look into Solace, which is a pretty fascinating concept. The descriptions of it are very vivid, and I often felt on the verge of shivering whenever Johnson described the cold in the mountains. I love books and love studying, so I for one am a big fan of the concept of a nation built on scholarly pursuits, and Solace became one of those book settings I wished was real because I'd so love to visit it, much like Hogwarts.
I look forward to reading more books from this author. Though these are fantasy novels, they're not the typical high fantasy that's chock full of dragons and elves, which to me is a good thing. It's not that I'm uninterested in those kinds of creatures, it's that I gravitate more toward fantasy novels that invent their own creatures and worlds, and that's one of the great strengths of these first two books. While there are common threads that hold them together, the settings depicted in this novel are quite different from those depicted in the first, making it obvious that Johnson has a very clear, detailed, and broad picture of her world, and I hope she'll continue to expand on it.