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A review by mrblackbean11
The Onion Girl by Charles de Lint
3.0
This was an interesting book, I have many (conflicting) opinions about it. On one hand, I found it amusing and overall, well, enchanting. On the other hand, I found it highly unrealistic (beside the faerie and dreamland element) and that the author was trying to paint a picture of something he didn't fully understand (yet, he captured a few things very well, like Raylene's programing skills).
The story revolves around the parallel yet radically different lives lived by Jilly and her little sister Raylene. Although both had similarly horrific childhoods, Raylene has one more tragedy to deal with than Jilly - her sister's abandonment of her, leaving her knowingly to a life of misery. This pivotal moment serves as a crux for Raylene, who's life is shaped by this event and she can not let it go. Jilly, on the other hand, eventually finds her path and tries to spend as much acceptance and love as she can.
I found Raylene to be my favorite character (at least the Raylene of the first half of the book). Raylene is this spunky girl who's had a lot of shit thrown in her fan, but she fights back with the aid of her closest friend, Pinky Miller. Also, Raylene is the one intelligent female in this book - it's her best trait. She can easily solve problems and manipulate her way out of a sticky situation just on her astuteness. I looked forward to the Raylene chapters - they were always unique and interesting, constantly changing with Raylene growing stronger with every chapter.
However, Raylene suddenly about half way through the book develops this overwhelming strong hatred for her sister Jillian. Sure, de Lint mentions Raylene's abandonment issues with Jillian; however, it seemed to me like de Lint suddenly wanted that to be the driving force in the plot, so Raylene suddenly becomes all consumed with her hatred for Jillian. This is the main issue I had with de Lint's writing style - I didn't really believe a lot of the character interactions and the source of their emotions. Sure, you could argue that one who has been as traumatically abused as Raylene and Jillian have will not react as expected or appropriately to a situation, but de Lint fails to fully capture this emotion for me with his slight inconsistencies in the plot line. Another example of this is when Jilly talks about her drug and hooker days - it's just not believable. De Lint throws out terms like "junkie" and "pimp", but you can tell he is writing about something he doesn't fully understand or can relate to. If you are that addicted to cocaine, it takes more than detox and a kind person to immediately cure you, which seems to be the case with Jilly.
De Lint does do some elements really well, nonetheless. I appreciated his ability to capture the depth of the interactions and intimacies of a triad of females. Wendy, Sophie, and Jilly have an incredibly close friendship, and I felt like De Lint captured the group mentality well, with Wendy toward the end mentioning how she felt left out because Jilly and Sophie were able to go to the dreamlands and she couldn't. Just in that simple statement de Lint was able to perceive the depth and insecurity that always arises in a group of three close girlfriends - a stronger relationship will form between two, leaving one left out, or a alpha will emerge in the group.
Overall, this book was good. The only way I can think to sum it up is as a "dark light-hearted book", which is a paradox unto itself. I would recommend this book to a preteen or a dreamer.
The story revolves around the parallel yet radically different lives lived by Jilly and her little sister Raylene. Although both had similarly horrific childhoods, Raylene has one more tragedy to deal with than Jilly - her sister's abandonment of her, leaving her knowingly to a life of misery. This pivotal moment serves as a crux for Raylene, who's life is shaped by this event and she can not let it go. Jilly, on the other hand, eventually finds her path and tries to spend as much acceptance and love as she can.
I found Raylene to be my favorite character (at least the Raylene of the first half of the book). Raylene is this spunky girl who's had a lot of shit thrown in her fan, but she fights back with the aid of her closest friend, Pinky Miller. Also, Raylene is the one intelligent female in this book - it's her best trait. She can easily solve problems and manipulate her way out of a sticky situation just on her astuteness. I looked forward to the Raylene chapters - they were always unique and interesting, constantly changing with Raylene growing stronger with every chapter.
However, Raylene suddenly about half way through the book develops this overwhelming strong hatred for her sister Jillian. Sure, de Lint mentions Raylene's abandonment issues with Jillian; however, it seemed to me like de Lint suddenly wanted that to be the driving force in the plot, so Raylene suddenly becomes all consumed with her hatred for Jillian. This is the main issue I had with de Lint's writing style - I didn't really believe a lot of the character interactions and the source of their emotions. Sure, you could argue that one who has been as traumatically abused as Raylene and Jillian have will not react as expected or appropriately to a situation, but de Lint fails to fully capture this emotion for me with his slight inconsistencies in the plot line. Another example of this is when Jilly talks about her drug and hooker days - it's just not believable. De Lint throws out terms like "junkie" and "pimp", but you can tell he is writing about something he doesn't fully understand or can relate to. If you are that addicted to cocaine, it takes more than detox and a kind person to immediately cure you, which seems to be the case with Jilly.
De Lint does do some elements really well, nonetheless. I appreciated his ability to capture the depth of the interactions and intimacies of a triad of females. Wendy, Sophie, and Jilly have an incredibly close friendship, and I felt like De Lint captured the group mentality well, with Wendy toward the end mentioning how she felt left out because Jilly and Sophie were able to go to the dreamlands and she couldn't. Just in that simple statement de Lint was able to perceive the depth and insecurity that always arises in a group of three close girlfriends - a stronger relationship will form between two, leaving one left out, or a alpha will emerge in the group.
Overall, this book was good. The only way I can think to sum it up is as a "dark light-hearted book", which is a paradox unto itself. I would recommend this book to a preteen or a dreamer.