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A review by mariahistryingtoread
Winnie Zeng Unleashes a Legend by Katie Zhao
3.0
This trope in literature - kid unlocks magical powers/history/is chosen one, saves world - is super common. I usually avoid it because while kids will enjoy it, it is one of the few tropes that as an adult kidlit reader I find just too rote. If you read enough, most things become by the numbers in some way, but I prefer to not go around 2 or 3 starring books I know for a fact will not hold high in my esteem.
Obviously, my opinion is one in a sea of likely to be gushing 4 or 5 star reviews and doesn’t matter all that much. But, since I’m the main character in my life I choose to center my perspective above all else and needlessly worry that somehow my one review will singlehandedly change the tides’ of a books’ reputation and I will feel guilty for ruining an ultimately harmless thing. Thus, I actually enter books of this kind with great trepidation - contrary to popular belief, I do not enjoy having to write a negative review.
All that is to say: Is Winnie Zeng predictable? Yes. Is it still worth reading? Absolutely.
For one, all children should see themselves as heroes. The trope is tired for me, however, the trope is predominantly tired in relation to white children who still make up the majority of kidlit depictions. A Chinese girl unlocks magical powers/history/is chosen one, saves world is not even close to being exhausted in American kidlit.
I will always champion a book that is inoffensive and does exactly what it seeks to do well. Winnie Zeng has no plot holes, does not violate its internal logic, fulfills Winnie’s character arc and is paced evenly. More than that it’s fun without resorting to ‘borrowing’ specific attributes of other similar books of this type. For example, when I read the first Aru Shah book it felt like it was copying elements of Percy Jackson wholesale. Outside of its inclusion of Indian mythology it did not stand enough on its own two feet as a novel; it relied too much on checking off the boxes along the path laid out by the trope.
That does not mean Winnie Zeng doesn't do the same thing at times (the hip and cool Grandma, the pop culture references that immediately date the book, the random power up when facing the final boss even though the main character is a level 1 whatever, the establishment of the background shadow agency/organization/powerful group in charge for decades that will most definitely be taken down a peg by kids who have only been in the business for a few months, the info-dumping) It just means that it was written under its own steam enough that I was not especially bothered.
Winnie Zeng manages to maintain its own charm while staying in the confines of the genre - I feel totally comfortable recommending it.
Obviously, my opinion is one in a sea of likely to be gushing 4 or 5 star reviews and doesn’t matter all that much. But, since I’m the main character in my life I choose to center my perspective above all else and needlessly worry that somehow my one review will singlehandedly change the tides’ of a books’ reputation and I will feel guilty for ruining an ultimately harmless thing. Thus, I actually enter books of this kind with great trepidation - contrary to popular belief, I do not enjoy having to write a negative review.
All that is to say: Is Winnie Zeng predictable? Yes. Is it still worth reading? Absolutely.
For one, all children should see themselves as heroes. The trope is tired for me, however, the trope is predominantly tired in relation to white children who still make up the majority of kidlit depictions. A Chinese girl unlocks magical powers/history/is chosen one, saves world is not even close to being exhausted in American kidlit.
I will always champion a book that is inoffensive and does exactly what it seeks to do well. Winnie Zeng has no plot holes, does not violate its internal logic, fulfills Winnie’s character arc and is paced evenly. More than that it’s fun without resorting to ‘borrowing’ specific attributes of other similar books of this type. For example, when I read the first Aru Shah book it felt like it was copying elements of Percy Jackson wholesale. Outside of its inclusion of Indian mythology it did not stand enough on its own two feet as a novel; it relied too much on checking off the boxes along the path laid out by the trope.
That does not mean Winnie Zeng doesn't do the same thing at times (the hip and cool Grandma, the pop culture references that immediately date the book, the random power up when facing the final boss even though the main character is a level 1 whatever, the establishment of the background shadow agency/organization/powerful group in charge for decades that will most definitely be taken down a peg by kids who have only been in the business for a few months, the info-dumping) It just means that it was written under its own steam enough that I was not especially bothered.
Winnie Zeng manages to maintain its own charm while staying in the confines of the genre - I feel totally comfortable recommending it.