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cosbrarian 's review for:
The Scorpion Rules
by Erin Bow
This book has such mixed reviews and I am not sure why because I found it compelling as hell and an emotional roller coaster. It moved me so much at points that sometimes as I was reading I thought, "I don't like this book." But I found myself swiftly turning pages and reflecting and turning more pages and I was done and AFFECTED! I think in the middle points I was reacting viscerally to the uncomfortable emotions it made me feel ha!
But I know (and you know if you follow my reviews) that I HATED THE NEW HARRY POTTER BOOK and a lot of people thought it was wonderful so I read some of the one-star reviews and pondered why someone else might despise this book that made me vocally express my awe alone in my apartment to my cats and a dress form.
I don't agree with the criticisms it has gotten. If you read the critiques it's been cited as: boring and plotless with no action and the main character is dull, with bad world-building and one-dimensional characters. I'm not sure if they were reading the same thing I was reading. Because this is what I read:
- Greta is a very different heroine from other dystopian books. She doesn't shoot arrows and she's a pacifist and on the surface it can come across that she's the precious precious princess type. But that isn't the case. She's a diplomat and the choices that she makes in this book are grave ones - choices that not a lot of teens would be brave enough to make. I myself initially thought she felt like the fairy tale heroine we do not want to see from female characters in books anymore. But I don't think diplomacy and passiveness are the same thing.
- I guess some people find politics, sexual tension, torture, friendship, snarky villains ("villains?"), and AI characters plotless and boring but . . . I'm not those people.
- I'm also not sure why people call the romance a love triangle, because it's definitely not that. I actually think you could make an argument that Greta is polyamorous. Maybe. It's highly possibly I don't know what I'm talking about - and ultimately one of the people she has romantic interludes is definitely THE romance. If it IS a love triangle, it's an unconventional one.
- The world building was fine. It's a very sheltered world, as we never leave the Precepture School. But the rise of the AI seemed pretty clear and the world of the school was easy to invest in, and the events that led to this particular society didn't seem any less believable than the other 400 dystopias that are floating around YAdom. I think this world brought a lot of new stuff to the table and it was cool. The only thing I'd say I could have known more about is the world outside the Precepture but that wasn't necessarily a point of this story.
- Another complaint has been two-dimensional characters. I think Greta's closest friends Xie and Elian could have used a bit more depth but I also found them sympathetic and likable. Interestingly, I think the most three-dimensional characters were the two main AI characters, the Abbot and Talis. And frankly, that was good enough for me because robots with feelings are a good read.
- OK, there were definitely a lot of goats in this book, but goats are funny and a book with torture and child-killing and possibly corrupt robotic politics needs some levity.
Well. . . I'm not really sure why I wrote this as a response to all the book's haters, cuz it's cool, haters. That's why they make chocolate and vanilla.
I think I responded to the haters for anyone considering whether to read The Scorpion Rules. Definitely pick it up to judge for yourself because for me: I'm so glad I didn't miss this one. (And I'm extra glad I have an ARC of its sequel right next to me on my bookstand. YAY.)
(Also I'm not the only one who loved it - lots of people here did and it also got three starred reviews from credible book reviewers so :-P)(just kidding, haters, it's cool.)
But I know (and you know if you follow my reviews) that I HATED THE NEW HARRY POTTER BOOK and a lot of people thought it was wonderful so I read some of the one-star reviews and pondered why someone else might despise this book that made me vocally express my awe alone in my apartment to my cats and a dress form.
I don't agree with the criticisms it has gotten. If you read the critiques it's been cited as: boring and plotless with no action and the main character is dull, with bad world-building and one-dimensional characters. I'm not sure if they were reading the same thing I was reading. Because this is what I read:
- Greta is a very different heroine from other dystopian books. She doesn't shoot arrows and she's a pacifist and on the surface it can come across that she's the precious precious princess type. But that isn't the case. She's a diplomat and the choices that she makes in this book are grave ones - choices that not a lot of teens would be brave enough to make. I myself initially thought she felt like the fairy tale heroine we do not want to see from female characters in books anymore. But I don't think diplomacy and passiveness are the same thing.
- I guess some people find politics, sexual tension, torture, friendship, snarky villains ("villains?"), and AI characters plotless and boring but . . . I'm not those people.
- I'm also not sure why people call the romance a love triangle, because it's definitely not that. I actually think you could make an argument that Greta is polyamorous. Maybe. It's highly possibly I don't know what I'm talking about - and ultimately one of the people she has romantic interludes is definitely THE romance. If it IS a love triangle, it's an unconventional one.
- The world building was fine. It's a very sheltered world, as we never leave the Precepture School. But the rise of the AI seemed pretty clear and the world of the school was easy to invest in, and the events that led to this particular society didn't seem any less believable than the other 400 dystopias that are floating around YAdom. I think this world brought a lot of new stuff to the table and it was cool. The only thing I'd say I could have known more about is the world outside the Precepture but that wasn't necessarily a point of this story.
- Another complaint has been two-dimensional characters. I think Greta's closest friends Xie and Elian could have used a bit more depth but I also found them sympathetic and likable. Interestingly, I think the most three-dimensional characters were the two main AI characters, the Abbot and Talis. And frankly, that was good enough for me because robots with feelings are a good read.
- OK, there were definitely a lot of goats in this book, but goats are funny and a book with torture and child-killing and possibly corrupt robotic politics needs some levity.
Well. . . I'm not really sure why I wrote this as a response to all the book's haters, cuz it's cool, haters. That's why they make chocolate and vanilla.
I think I responded to the haters for anyone considering whether to read The Scorpion Rules. Definitely pick it up to judge for yourself because for me: I'm so glad I didn't miss this one. (And I'm extra glad I have an ARC of its sequel right next to me on my bookstand. YAY.)
(Also I'm not the only one who loved it - lots of people here did and it also got three starred reviews from credible book reviewers so :-P)(just kidding, haters, it's cool.)