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A review by bigdreamsandwildthings
The Reckoning of Noah Shaw by Michelle Hodkin
2.0
"Anger, though - anger can be used. If you can swallow the ache in your chest and let bitterness rise in your throat, you can burn it like fuel.
I choose anger over sadness."
Oof. This was...not good. I'm going to go with 2.5 stars - I originally started with 3, but the more I think about it, the more I just...can't give it that, because it's too high.
Let's get one thing clear right off the bat: nothing happens in this goddamn novel. I usually like to start my reviews with a plot summary to get into the review mood, but I literally can't this time. Noah Shaw is basically running from his decision to break up with Mara, so he reluctantly goes back to England with Goose, and from there, it's just a mess of the two of them being told to go somewhere, told to do something, and both of them going along with it because why not?
The important things are that Noah Shaw is angsty. Noah Shaw doesn't give a shit. And Noah Shaw has absolutely nothing interesting about him anymore because Noah Shaw is wrapped up in such absolute garbage disguised as "plot twists" and "suspense" that there is no way Noah Shaw even knows what he exists for anymore.
I've stuck with this world for so long. I really, really enjoyed the Mara Dyer books; I found those plot twists intriguing and sensible enough that even if I spent most of a book not knowing what the hell was going on, eventually I would figure it out, and I had faith in that. Now, though, it seems like that eerie, suspenseful atmosphere has been kiboshed in favour of...honestly, I don't even know. Nothing. There's no soul in this book. It has zero plot. Zero driving action. If Michelle Hodkin is counting on all of us just being in it for the reveals and the "what the fuck is happening" feel, she needs to step up her game, because it's honestly not enough anymore.
I choose anger over sadness."
Oof. This was...not good. I'm going to go with 2.5 stars - I originally started with 3, but the more I think about it, the more I just...can't give it that, because it's too high.
Let's get one thing clear right off the bat: nothing happens in this goddamn novel. I usually like to start my reviews with a plot summary to get into the review mood, but I literally can't this time. Noah Shaw is basically running from his decision to break up with Mara, so he reluctantly goes back to England with Goose, and from there, it's just a mess of the two of them being told to go somewhere, told to do something, and both of them going along with it because why not?
The important things are that Noah Shaw is angsty. Noah Shaw doesn't give a shit. And Noah Shaw has absolutely nothing interesting about him anymore because Noah Shaw is wrapped up in such absolute garbage disguised as "plot twists" and "suspense" that there is no way Noah Shaw even knows what he exists for anymore.
I've stuck with this world for so long. I really, really enjoyed the Mara Dyer books; I found those plot twists intriguing and sensible enough that even if I spent most of a book not knowing what the hell was going on, eventually I would figure it out, and I had faith in that. Now, though, it seems like that eerie, suspenseful atmosphere has been kiboshed in favour of...honestly, I don't even know. Nothing. There's no soul in this book. It has zero plot. Zero driving action. If Michelle Hodkin is counting on all of us just being in it for the reveals and the "what the fuck is happening" feel, she needs to step up her game, because it's honestly not enough anymore.