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3.5.
I enjoyed this a lot. Like, I had some definite issues with it, but I just had so much fun reading it. The characters were lots of fun and the plot was engaging (though it could definitely be slow at times) and I liked the world and everything. It was just a really enjoyable read. I really liked the central romance, there was a fine helping of angst (though there could, of course, have been more) and the other relationships were also sweet and fairly well developed. So this was a very, very fun read, but not really all that substantive or memorable.
This book is about a future world where technology has been outlawed. It is set in Europe, with parts of it in a future Paris where the events of the French Revolution appear to be playing out, again. Specifically, this book follows Sophia, who lives in the Commonwealth and has found herself engaged to a man who she doesn't know (basically at all) but what she does know of him she isn't too interested in. Meanwhile, at the prisons in the former Paris, a figure known as only the Red Rook is freeing prisoners. And no one can catch him or her or them.
SPOILERS DISCUSSION!
I thought that the concept of this world was really cool. There were a couple moments that I was kind of taken out of he narrative (for example, when the new leader was a guy named Napoleon… like, history repeats itself sure, but someone with the exact same name?) but generally it was a really cool concept. It was a really different way of looking at a post apocalyptic world, but was also kind of believable? Like, this idea of getting rid of technology as an attempt to bring money back to the working class. That is not a totally unreasonable dystopian ideal to me. Also, I find the French Revolution really fascinating and just the whole thing was really cool. There could've been more world-building, sure, but, again, I just had fun.
It was also really interesting having them discover things from our current world. It makes total sense that those mundane elements from our lives would have such meaning in a later world. Think of how we are with part of the normal lives of Ancient Romans, for example. I just thought that the whole concept was cool. It really could've been a larger part of the story, and I would have really appreciated that, but I'll take it as is.
I also thought that it was really interesting that we didn't know, at the beginning, that Sophia was the Red Rook. Like, you learn that she is within the first page, essentially, but not when you just read the synopsis of the book. I thought that was a really interesting and deliberate choice (I don't know how it could not be deliberate, because that's a decision) and I liked it.
Okay, so Spear. That ending was… intense. Like, wow. It was clear the whole time that he was a little too obsessed with Sophia, and I think that thing that Tom said about his having two Sophias in his brain made sense. And, like, I was obviously into René the whole time because they had a hilarious relationship and they were super cute (that scene where they played chess and Sophia was like, "Huh, this guy might actually be kind of smart.") So, I never really paid as much attention to his relationship with Sophia (though, y'know, it was definitely sweet at the beginning when it seemed like it could potentially be more of a brother-sister relationship.) So maybe that's why the end was so shocking to me, and didn't feel totally real. I don't know, it wasn't great.
I touched on this above, but I thought that René and Sophia were really cute together. At the beginning, they were both so unsure of each other, but then they realized that they had this common goal and they slowly got closer and closer to each other. Ugh. And also that they had to pretend to be together. And I feel like Sophia was allowed to feel like real angst about René in a way that usually just male characters can feel? Like, I don't really know what I'm going for here, but I thought that the way that she thought about René was kind of unique in terms of YA. Not like unprecedented, but kind of different.
I really liked Benoit, he was awesome. All of the supporting characters were lots of fun, though they could've definitely been a little bit more developed. Orla was also really fun, and I liked how she and Benoit kind of bounced off of each other without knowing each other's language or really anything about the other. They were both supportive and protective in loving in very similar, and sweet, ways.
At the end, of course, there were a bunch of twists and turns and no one was really clear on who exactly was at fault. I thought that some of that was a little too much, like we didn't have access to either of those two characters (the neighbor and the banker [I don't have my book on me right now]) for most of the latter half of the book. There was no way to speculate about what they were up to because we had no idea, and I wasn't thinking about them, because they seemed so far away. Anyway, it just didn't blow me away. But, again, was fine.
I thought that the religious aspect was really interesting (it was also interesting in the context of the revolution, which I didn't really put together until the author's note.) It was intriguing and really gave us an insight into the mind of our villain. I think that we could've had a little more, but that's okay. I'm glad that we were at least able to see some of the motivations of the villain (because it's so easy, especially in a book like this, to not give the villain a sense of humanity and vulnerability.)
I think I'll probably check out more of Ms. Cameron's work because I just had so much fun reading this.
FIN!
Maybe not objectively that impressive but I had fun: 85%
I enjoyed this a lot. Like, I had some definite issues with it, but I just had so much fun reading it. The characters were lots of fun and the plot was engaging (though it could definitely be slow at times) and I liked the world and everything. It was just a really enjoyable read. I really liked the central romance, there was a fine helping of angst (though there could, of course, have been more) and the other relationships were also sweet and fairly well developed. So this was a very, very fun read, but not really all that substantive or memorable.
This book is about a future world where technology has been outlawed. It is set in Europe, with parts of it in a future Paris where the events of the French Revolution appear to be playing out, again. Specifically, this book follows Sophia, who lives in the Commonwealth and has found herself engaged to a man who she doesn't know (basically at all) but what she does know of him she isn't too interested in. Meanwhile, at the prisons in the former Paris, a figure known as only the Red Rook is freeing prisoners. And no one can catch him or her or them.
SPOILERS DISCUSSION!
I thought that the concept of this world was really cool. There were a couple moments that I was kind of taken out of he narrative (for example, when the new leader was a guy named Napoleon… like, history repeats itself sure, but someone with the exact same name?) but generally it was a really cool concept. It was a really different way of looking at a post apocalyptic world, but was also kind of believable? Like, this idea of getting rid of technology as an attempt to bring money back to the working class. That is not a totally unreasonable dystopian ideal to me. Also, I find the French Revolution really fascinating and just the whole thing was really cool. There could've been more world-building, sure, but, again, I just had fun.
It was also really interesting having them discover things from our current world. It makes total sense that those mundane elements from our lives would have such meaning in a later world. Think of how we are with part of the normal lives of Ancient Romans, for example. I just thought that the whole concept was cool. It really could've been a larger part of the story, and I would have really appreciated that, but I'll take it as is.
I also thought that it was really interesting that we didn't know, at the beginning, that Sophia was the Red Rook. Like, you learn that she is within the first page, essentially, but not when you just read the synopsis of the book. I thought that was a really interesting and deliberate choice (I don't know how it could not be deliberate, because that's a decision) and I liked it.
Okay, so Spear. That ending was… intense. Like, wow. It was clear the whole time that he was a little too obsessed with Sophia, and I think that thing that Tom said about his having two Sophias in his brain made sense. And, like, I was obviously into René the whole time because they had a hilarious relationship and they were super cute (that scene where they played chess and Sophia was like, "Huh, this guy might actually be kind of smart.") So, I never really paid as much attention to his relationship with Sophia (though, y'know, it was definitely sweet at the beginning when it seemed like it could potentially be more of a brother-sister relationship.) So maybe that's why the end was so shocking to me, and didn't feel totally real. I don't know, it wasn't great.
I touched on this above, but I thought that René and Sophia were really cute together. At the beginning, they were both so unsure of each other, but then they realized that they had this common goal and they slowly got closer and closer to each other. Ugh. And also that they had to pretend to be together. And I feel like Sophia was allowed to feel like real angst about René in a way that usually just male characters can feel? Like, I don't really know what I'm going for here, but I thought that the way that she thought about René was kind of unique in terms of YA. Not like unprecedented, but kind of different.
I really liked Benoit, he was awesome. All of the supporting characters were lots of fun, though they could've definitely been a little bit more developed. Orla was also really fun, and I liked how she and Benoit kind of bounced off of each other without knowing each other's language or really anything about the other. They were both supportive and protective in loving in very similar, and sweet, ways.
At the end, of course, there were a bunch of twists and turns and no one was really clear on who exactly was at fault. I thought that some of that was a little too much, like we didn't have access to either of those two characters (the neighbor and the banker [I don't have my book on me right now]) for most of the latter half of the book. There was no way to speculate about what they were up to because we had no idea, and I wasn't thinking about them, because they seemed so far away. Anyway, it just didn't blow me away. But, again, was fine.
I thought that the religious aspect was really interesting (it was also interesting in the context of the revolution, which I didn't really put together until the author's note.) It was intriguing and really gave us an insight into the mind of our villain. I think that we could've had a little more, but that's okay. I'm glad that we were at least able to see some of the motivations of the villain (because it's so easy, especially in a book like this, to not give the villain a sense of humanity and vulnerability.)
I think I'll probably check out more of Ms. Cameron's work because I just had so much fun reading this.
FIN!
Maybe not objectively that impressive but I had fun: 85%