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A review by callieju
The Final Spark by Richard Paul Evans
2.0
Okay, I’m rating this book as my overall rating for the series. First I’ll start with the positives:
The plot was compelling. The storyline was well written. The characters were also written decently, although very cliche. (and in my opinion not enough detail in many of them. There was not really an origin story for hatch, and why he was so psychotic. As well we get no information on any of the glows pasts. Especially Zara. Where was she? Stupid addition IMO) However the author was able to make you feel genuine emotions while reading at some points. I truly hated and liked certain characters.
However, I have a few issues with the book. First, the lack of diversity. Yes there were two characters that were BIPOC, however they were very much side characters. And Mckenna, was written like the stereotypical asian trope, being quiet. She hardly spoke throughout the books.
Another thing, i felt very uncomfortable reading certain parts of the book. Some parts gave me fatphobia vibes, Ostin’s friends would pick on him and tease him for his weight constantly. As well, when he was brought up especially in the first book usually his eating was too. It just paints a bad picture for people who are fat, contributing to the stereotype that all fat people just gorge themselves etc etc.
Another part that I felt uncomfortable reading was when the characters would make fun of other cultures foods. While they were in Peru they ate many traditional Peruvian foods and then later complained about them calling it gross etc. This same thing happened in Taiwan.
Lastly, I have one more complaint. The books dragged on, talking about useless details and building unnecessary and boring plot. Honestly, the series probably could’ve been condensed into five books, not seven.
Although the book has many problems, I still enjoyed it and read all seven. The ending was a good conclusion to the series.
The plot was compelling. The storyline was well written. The characters were also written decently, although very cliche. (and in my opinion not enough detail in many of them. There was not really an origin story for hatch, and why he was so psychotic. As well we get no information on any of the glows pasts. Especially Zara. Where was she? Stupid addition IMO) However the author was able to make you feel genuine emotions while reading at some points. I truly hated and liked certain characters.
However, I have a few issues with the book. First, the lack of diversity. Yes there were two characters that were BIPOC, however they were very much side characters. And Mckenna, was written like the stereotypical asian trope, being quiet. She hardly spoke throughout the books.
Another thing, i felt very uncomfortable reading certain parts of the book. Some parts gave me fatphobia vibes, Ostin’s friends would pick on him and tease him for his weight constantly. As well, when he was brought up especially in the first book usually his eating was too. It just paints a bad picture for people who are fat, contributing to the stereotype that all fat people just gorge themselves etc etc.
Another part that I felt uncomfortable reading was when the characters would make fun of other cultures foods. While they were in Peru they ate many traditional Peruvian foods and then later complained about them calling it gross etc. This same thing happened in Taiwan.
Lastly, I have one more complaint. The books dragged on, talking about useless details and building unnecessary and boring plot. Honestly, the series probably could’ve been condensed into five books, not seven.
Although the book has many problems, I still enjoyed it and read all seven. The ending was a good conclusion to the series.