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hoorayleigh 's review for:
Thorn Jack
by Katherine Harbour
I got an advanced copy of this book, so my review is based on that.
To be honest, I have very little doubt that with enough editing and publicity, this book will be the next Twilight. The reason I don't doubt this is because this book IS Twilight. Plain looking girl with something about her moves to small town with father and falls for murderous couple centuries old dead guy who also takes a liking to her. She even finds out he's a couple centuries old dead guy with the help of the internet. Harbour throws in some creepy elements -- ghosts, unexplained magical creatures, demons (?), etc. -- but that and the fact that Jack is some type of reanimated dead guy (in my opinion, what exactly the Fatas are is never really explained in enough detail) rather than a vampire are about the two major plot differences between the two books.
Harbour's writing seems to improve as the novel goes on, especially after Jack is introduced, which at least gives the reader something to read for and a plot point to grasp onto. Jack is the type of male character teen girls will grasp onto -- brooding, dark, witty, handsome. Some problem areas, though:
1. This book is trying harder to be goth than a 13 year old at Hot Topic.
2. There are areas in which Harbour is overly detailed -- I know every single outfit every character wore every time they were mentioned -- and areas in which she isn't detailed enough. As I said, I would like a more solid background on what exactly a Fata is beyond a living dead person. They seem to have some kind of magic, which is never really explored, and some of them seem to be more like demons (Caliban, for example). There are also supernatural creatures that pop up that really are never explained, so it seems like she just throws them in because she can. The book talks about faeries a TON but faeries never show up. There's a scene in which Weeping Angel like dolls that Harbour calls grindylow (not accurate) attack two of the characters, but where those statues came from and how they exist in our world is never explained.
3. I'm not sure if all of the literary references are cool or trying too hard.
4. I had a really hard time abandoning reality and buying into the story
The book's not an awful brain-candy read. I finished it, after all. I won't be surprised if a little while from now, all of the Twilight fandom starts obsessing over this. I don't have any interest in reading the sequels (it's implied that there will be sequels by the "A Night and Nothing Novel" on the cover), but Harbour has potential as a YA author.
To be honest, I have very little doubt that with enough editing and publicity, this book will be the next Twilight. The reason I don't doubt this is because this book IS Twilight. Plain looking girl with something about her moves to small town with father and falls for murderous couple centuries old dead guy who also takes a liking to her. She even finds out he's a couple centuries old dead guy with the help of the internet. Harbour throws in some creepy elements -- ghosts, unexplained magical creatures, demons (?), etc. -- but that and the fact that Jack is some type of reanimated dead guy (in my opinion, what exactly the Fatas are is never really explained in enough detail) rather than a vampire are about the two major plot differences between the two books.
Harbour's writing seems to improve as the novel goes on, especially after Jack is introduced, which at least gives the reader something to read for and a plot point to grasp onto. Jack is the type of male character teen girls will grasp onto -- brooding, dark, witty, handsome. Some problem areas, though:
1. This book is trying harder to be goth than a 13 year old at Hot Topic.
2. There are areas in which Harbour is overly detailed -- I know every single outfit every character wore every time they were mentioned -- and areas in which she isn't detailed enough. As I said, I would like a more solid background on what exactly a Fata is beyond a living dead person. They seem to have some kind of magic, which is never really explored, and some of them seem to be more like demons (Caliban, for example). There are also supernatural creatures that pop up that really are never explained, so it seems like she just throws them in because she can. The book talks about faeries a TON but faeries never show up. There's a scene in which Weeping Angel like dolls that Harbour calls grindylow (not accurate) attack two of the characters, but where those statues came from and how they exist in our world is never explained.
3. I'm not sure if all of the literary references are cool or trying too hard.
4. I had a really hard time abandoning reality and buying into the story
The book's not an awful brain-candy read. I finished it, after all. I won't be surprised if a little while from now, all of the Twilight fandom starts obsessing over this. I don't have any interest in reading the sequels (it's implied that there will be sequels by the "A Night and Nothing Novel" on the cover), but Harbour has potential as a YA author.