storytimed 's review for:

Archivist Wasp by Nicole Kornher-Stace

2.5

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After reading and not enjoying Nicole Kohrner Stace's Firebreak, a novel about a girl who discovers One Special Supersoldier who was experimented on as a child and fundamentally changes his life without fully entering it either romantically or platonically, I read Nicole Korhner-Stace's Archivist Wasp, a novel about a girl who discovers One Special Supersoldier who was experimented on as a child and fundamentally changes his death without fully entering it either romantically or platonically
I guess a writer can like what she likes! Doesn't mean that I like it
Although I did enjoy the bones of Archivist Wasp a little bit more? That actual experience of reading it was less pleasant and more of a slog, as I'm not super into wacky journey through trippy magic landscape narratives
And the writing in this one was just a little bit weaker bc there was less to cling onto, if that makes sense
I also thought Wasp was...... sort of unconvincing? This is a child soldier raised to be a ghost hunter pretty much from birth. Why is she acting like a Normal American Teen? Her bursts of altruism are what the narrative revolves around, but you don't really see where they come from or what she gets out of it other than, like, it's just her personality, I guess
But at the same time her actual interacting-with-others personality is sulky, suspicious and cynical
Which makes sense! but doesn't square with the narrative actions she has to take
Wasp is a ghost hunter who has just finished surviving the yearly ritual where a bunch of girls try to kill her and take her place! Trapped under the thumb of an evil priest, she meets a Special Ghost who tries to get her help in exchange for negotiating her freedom
Ultimately the book all sort of hangs on the layers of history... Wasp's postapocalyptic village is actually built on top of the ghost's futuristic child soldier experimentation compound
Which is pretty cool except Wasp has no actual interest in history lol. She literally burns all of her previous archivist predecessors' notes
But the inherent narrative of it was rather pleasing
And I did like the ending, where Wasp and the other archivist-hopefuls band together to kill the priest, as a mirror of the tragic ghost ending where the supersoldier's failure of solidarity led to the death of his comrade
Anyway, the ending was enough for me to feel like reading this wasn't a total waste of time
Although........... I have no interest in reading any other books by this author again LOL
I mean, how many Special Supersoldiers can there really be