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arggimapirate 's review for:
The Unwanteds
by Lisa McMann
I should preface this review with the fact that I think this could be a good book for older elementary kids who have already read all the good juvenile fiction fantasies and are totally desperate to read more that is in the the same vein. It has a male protagonist, so it's an easy recommend to boys and the problems I have with the book would most likely go unnoticed by the average reader.
That being said, this book was so completely obnoxious to me. I should have known better than to read something proclaiming to be "The Hunger Games meets Harry Potter" on the cover, but the former theatre teacher in me was totally into the idea of a secret school where the arts are equivalent to magical powers. Hooray for arts in education!
This idea may have been strong, and I'm going to give the author the benefit of the doubt and assume her editors or publishing house forced her to do all the stupid things that make this book so frustrating. Like the bizarre attempts to seemingly make the characters sound more British at random intervals, despite the fact that the author lives in Phoenix.
Or the forced friendships/love interests/fights that literally arrive and soon as they disappear. Alex needs to make friends? Give it a chapter. We need to see that he's hitting puberty (I guess??)? Throw in a chapter where he suddenly notices his friend is cute and then never bring it up again. Mr. Today needs to be a likeable, Dumbledore-esque character? Just make all the kids like him without ever demonstrating what is likeable about him.
Most of the chapters are extremely short, subplots resolve themselves within a short chapter, and we are obviously supposed to feel some affinity for certain characters without ever being shown why. There is a LOT of telling and not showing, so we're left to assume that the characters must know more about each other than we do.
Also, the ridiculous plot lines where 13 year olds who JUST started school are suddenly experts and in line for major governmental roles is totally ludicrous, especially when both the magical and militant worlds HAVE ADULTS IN THEM.
This book doesn't know what it wants to be, tries to be too many things, and falls short on all fronts. The magical school is not even a school and is apparently optional. The battle involves thirteen year olds being told to decide for themselves if they want to kill people, without much reflection or evaluation of the depth of that decision AT ALL.
Okay, I'm starting to rant. There is so much to dislike about this book. I get that publishers are trying to capitalize on the magic of series like Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, and The Hunger Games, but I feel like what could have been a promising idea probably got drowned out by attempts to make it more like those already successful titles.
That, or the author really does just suck.
That being said, this book was so completely obnoxious to me. I should have known better than to read something proclaiming to be "The Hunger Games meets Harry Potter" on the cover, but the former theatre teacher in me was totally into the idea of a secret school where the arts are equivalent to magical powers. Hooray for arts in education!
This idea may have been strong, and I'm going to give the author the benefit of the doubt and assume her editors or publishing house forced her to do all the stupid things that make this book so frustrating. Like the bizarre attempts to seemingly make the characters sound more British at random intervals, despite the fact that the author lives in Phoenix.
Or the forced friendships/love interests/fights that literally arrive and soon as they disappear. Alex needs to make friends? Give it a chapter. We need to see that he's hitting puberty (I guess??)? Throw in a chapter where he suddenly notices his friend is cute and then never bring it up again. Mr. Today needs to be a likeable, Dumbledore-esque character? Just make all the kids like him without ever demonstrating what is likeable about him.
Most of the chapters are extremely short, subplots resolve themselves within a short chapter, and we are obviously supposed to feel some affinity for certain characters without ever being shown why. There is a LOT of telling and not showing, so we're left to assume that the characters must know more about each other than we do.
Also, the ridiculous plot lines where 13 year olds who JUST started school are suddenly experts and in line for major governmental roles is totally ludicrous, especially when both the magical and militant worlds HAVE ADULTS IN THEM.
This book doesn't know what it wants to be, tries to be too many things, and falls short on all fronts. The magical school is not even a school and is apparently optional. The battle involves thirteen year olds being told to decide for themselves if they want to kill people, without much reflection or evaluation of the depth of that decision AT ALL.
Okay, I'm starting to rant. There is so much to dislike about this book. I get that publishers are trying to capitalize on the magic of series like Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, and The Hunger Games, but I feel like what could have been a promising idea probably got drowned out by attempts to make it more like those already successful titles.
That, or the author really does just suck.