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A review by babyleo
Copper Girl by Jennifer Allis Provost
3.0
I was given an ARC copy of this book by the publisher.
Copper Girl is the story of Sara, from the blurb we know nothing except that she had always been careful, never spoken of magic, and never revealed her mark. Then, a silver elf called Micah pushes his way into Sara’s life, a mysterious elf who knows things others don’t, and her life becomes anything but ordinary. We watch as Sara learns more about her family, her world, and herself, and in doing so reveals that the start of something important is about to begin.
The hint of hidden magic draws you in and with no explanation why, aside from a missing father and brother, your mind begins to deduce and create its own answers before you even begin. The answer I was creating was not what I expected from this book. Provost has done a great job in creating this world, this dystopian world where magic has become something to be hidden, something wars have been fought and lost over, and something that is punishable by those who now run the government.
One of the main aspects that I was confused with was the switch between regular and italicised text. The story is told from Sara’s point of view, but while she narrates her life there are also moments where the narrative halts while something is explained, whether it is her job description or telling us about the war. These remain in Sara’s voice, but they definitely feel like it is a paused moment in the story to add information, then the story continues.
The good news is that after this bump in the beginning a pretty great story emerges. The idea that Provost has created with this dystopian world, hidden and banned magic, and a monotonous and yet highly regulated existence, is rather enticing. The post war environment was not apocalyptic, more highly run with contraband, curfews, and strict regimes and routines that should be adhered to to keep things running smoothly. The magical aspect with the Otherworld, the concept of ‘Metals’, as well as the secrets and capabilities of those who possess magic is also engaging and leads itself to being explored at greater length and from multiple angles in the series.
The coexisting worlds were well explained, as was the outcome of the conflict. Humans and those with magic coexisted until those without became paranoid, fearful, all the usual responses, thus creating war and sending magical people underground or into submission. The resulting society is not explained completely, but we catch glimpses as Sara makes reference or certain events reveal the life they all now lead. Once we were given this information there was a greater understanding of the society, which in turn supported and aided the characters and plot nicely.
The characters in the novel are good. They are unique, each with their own personalities and peculiarities that are humorous and mystifying. Sara is a great character, she has a wit and a sarcasm about her that makes her enjoyable to read. She is a young adult from what I could determine and she is caught up in these two worlds, all of which bring out her character really well. Micah is a strange character, he is very forward, a tad annoying at times, though his reasons for his behaviour are understandable. The issue I had about their fast affection is explained towards the later part of the book which was ok, having an explanation makes it much more understandable.
Aside from Sara, and partially Micah, most of the remaining characters are not explained with a lot of depth. Their past, history and nature are revealed as the plot requires, or within family dynamics and other relationships, but being the first book in the series one can hope that they are developed further as the series progresses.
I did like that Sara existed in a world, and came from a world where magic was known, and she herself was magical. This reduced the level of surprise when it is reintroduced into her life and makes this different than stories where an issue of a non-magical person having to come to terms with being magical or understand magic is hard to do properly.
As the reader who knows nothing, a lot still seems a bit unanswered, with enough history given, yet not enough at the same time. I felt like I had missed something or that the fleeting explanations were not enough. It didn’t hinder the story exactly, I knew what was going on, however the information and world Provost hints at seems so rich with history and magic that I wanted a grander introduction to it all. Perhaps slowly revealing bits and pieces throughout is enough, and maybe it was just my desire to have the complete history that was on my mind. I can only assume that more is to be revealed in the coming books.
The ending was very well rounded, there was no direct cliff hanger, but there was enough to see where the story could grow. We are given an introduction into this world and enough to peak curiosity about where it is headed, but we are not left in the middle of a scene or without real answers to leave us unfulfilled and impatient for book two. I look forward to the second in the series to see how this plays out and hopefully to get a greater understanding of the intricacies of the society and otherworld complexities.
An extended version of this review was published on my blog http://lostinagoodbk.wordpress.com/2013/06/12/giveaway-copper-girl-by-jennifer-allis-provost/
Copper Girl is the story of Sara, from the blurb we know nothing except that she had always been careful, never spoken of magic, and never revealed her mark. Then, a silver elf called Micah pushes his way into Sara’s life, a mysterious elf who knows things others don’t, and her life becomes anything but ordinary. We watch as Sara learns more about her family, her world, and herself, and in doing so reveals that the start of something important is about to begin.
The hint of hidden magic draws you in and with no explanation why, aside from a missing father and brother, your mind begins to deduce and create its own answers before you even begin. The answer I was creating was not what I expected from this book. Provost has done a great job in creating this world, this dystopian world where magic has become something to be hidden, something wars have been fought and lost over, and something that is punishable by those who now run the government.
One of the main aspects that I was confused with was the switch between regular and italicised text. The story is told from Sara’s point of view, but while she narrates her life there are also moments where the narrative halts while something is explained, whether it is her job description or telling us about the war. These remain in Sara’s voice, but they definitely feel like it is a paused moment in the story to add information, then the story continues.
The good news is that after this bump in the beginning a pretty great story emerges. The idea that Provost has created with this dystopian world, hidden and banned magic, and a monotonous and yet highly regulated existence, is rather enticing. The post war environment was not apocalyptic, more highly run with contraband, curfews, and strict regimes and routines that should be adhered to to keep things running smoothly. The magical aspect with the Otherworld, the concept of ‘Metals’, as well as the secrets and capabilities of those who possess magic is also engaging and leads itself to being explored at greater length and from multiple angles in the series.
The coexisting worlds were well explained, as was the outcome of the conflict. Humans and those with magic coexisted until those without became paranoid, fearful, all the usual responses, thus creating war and sending magical people underground or into submission. The resulting society is not explained completely, but we catch glimpses as Sara makes reference or certain events reveal the life they all now lead. Once we were given this information there was a greater understanding of the society, which in turn supported and aided the characters and plot nicely.
The characters in the novel are good. They are unique, each with their own personalities and peculiarities that are humorous and mystifying. Sara is a great character, she has a wit and a sarcasm about her that makes her enjoyable to read. She is a young adult from what I could determine and she is caught up in these two worlds, all of which bring out her character really well. Micah is a strange character, he is very forward, a tad annoying at times, though his reasons for his behaviour are understandable. The issue I had about their fast affection is explained towards the later part of the book which was ok, having an explanation makes it much more understandable.
Aside from Sara, and partially Micah, most of the remaining characters are not explained with a lot of depth. Their past, history and nature are revealed as the plot requires, or within family dynamics and other relationships, but being the first book in the series one can hope that they are developed further as the series progresses.
I did like that Sara existed in a world, and came from a world where magic was known, and she herself was magical. This reduced the level of surprise when it is reintroduced into her life and makes this different than stories where an issue of a non-magical person having to come to terms with being magical or understand magic is hard to do properly.
As the reader who knows nothing, a lot still seems a bit unanswered, with enough history given, yet not enough at the same time. I felt like I had missed something or that the fleeting explanations were not enough. It didn’t hinder the story exactly, I knew what was going on, however the information and world Provost hints at seems so rich with history and magic that I wanted a grander introduction to it all. Perhaps slowly revealing bits and pieces throughout is enough, and maybe it was just my desire to have the complete history that was on my mind. I can only assume that more is to be revealed in the coming books.
The ending was very well rounded, there was no direct cliff hanger, but there was enough to see where the story could grow. We are given an introduction into this world and enough to peak curiosity about where it is headed, but we are not left in the middle of a scene or without real answers to leave us unfulfilled and impatient for book two. I look forward to the second in the series to see how this plays out and hopefully to get a greater understanding of the intricacies of the society and otherworld complexities.
An extended version of this review was published on my blog http://lostinagoodbk.wordpress.com/2013/06/12/giveaway-copper-girl-by-jennifer-allis-provost/