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A review by thebakersbooks
The Line by Teri Hall
adventurous
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Based on the cover, I was expecting horror or a thriller. This was a frustratingly exposition-heavy fantasy novel that felt like it was trying to shove a message down my throat but I'm not even sure what the message was. Border walls bad? (I agree.) U.S.A. bad? (I agree.) I just think there was a more entertaining and less muddy way to write those things into a story if that's how you choose to go about activism. There's also a white-savior tone, although maybe in this case it's a privileged-people-as-saviors tone, which I like nearly as little.
I appreciated the commitment of the narrative to "helping others is good, even at great personal risk," as well as the apparent (correct) ACAB stance it seems to take. Gonna read the sequel because this one only took me two hours and it *did* make me curious with its ending cliffhanger. I also liked seeing an older, disabled woman getting to be a primary character and a fundamental part of the resistance, as that is incredibly true to life and just as incredibly underrepresented in fiction.
I appreciated the commitment of the narrative to "helping others is good, even at great personal risk," as well as the apparent (correct) ACAB stance it seems to take. Gonna read the sequel because this one only took me two hours and it *did* make me curious with its ending cliffhanger. I also liked seeing an older, disabled woman getting to be a primary character and a fundamental part of the resistance, as that is incredibly true to life and just as incredibly underrepresented in fiction.