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A review by captainbookamir
Oak and Mist by Helen Jones
3.0
(In the interest of transparancy, I received a free copy for review via The Book Robin Hoods. This review is my honest opinion however.)
Although this book still struggles a bit under the inexperience that comes from being a debut novel, it's an enjoyable and engaging story, or really Act 1 in a story. Even in the midst of reading slump, it kept me reading instead of putting it to the side, like I did with 3 or 4 other perfectly good books. It's got hook, it's got unanswered questions and potential for themes and moral questions and it has some great side characters.
Speaking of characters, our protagonist Alma is a fairly likeable girl, although occasionally she borders on annoying. But mostly those moments are the ones where she acts without much though, as one who is being a bit blind to implications or consequences. Considering she's fifteen though, I think that's fair. Most fifteen year olds do have that quality and Alma's got a heart full of kindness to make up for it. I do have strong suspicions that easy-going, kind nature is going to get her into a world of trouble in later books. In this book, Alma's reaction to the whole Regalia quest is something I could really get. It's not some solemn acceptance although it is something that matters very much to the residents of Ambeth. Rather it's an: oh, OK, I guess I should. WHICH IS GREAT. Alma's a teenager who mainly wants to go to Ambeth because it's beautiful and it feels like home and because of her friendship with Caleb. The Regalia issue pretty much got dumped on her as part-and-parcel of coming there. A reluctance to spend time studying in a library (however beautiful) when she's got plenty of homework on Earth for something she doesn't really understand or fully realise the significance of is perfectly understandable (because teenager and also I as a reader thought, well it doesn't seem THAT urgent considering how long they've managed without them). I mean, it can occasionally feel like "Alma, stop slacking off now that you've said yes. No doubt it is actually important" but I did sympathise a little.
Which brings me to the idea of Light and Dark and the balance. This is where I see the most thematic potential for this series. Although it wasn't, a little disappointingly I will admit, much explored in this book, the idea of Light and Dark being dependent on one another but also being outwardly the same is one I like. There's a lot that can be explored there: how definite or extreme are Light and Dark? Is that the same for everyone? Can you change a born/innate nature? Does each contain a seed of the other? If you can't change it, if you are simply assigned Light or Dark at birth by your nature, how does that impact free will? Is that fair? Are the Light characters really all that brilliant? Light and Dark in this book seem to be the equivalent of good and evil, but is that true? Alma's bracelet that burns in the vicinity of Dark, is that really a warning or just an antagonism of something made by the Light? Deryck, the Dark boy that Alma gets a serious crush on (more on that in a second) seems to be the main character where these conflicts and questions will play out. But I have to say, I do hope that they do get played out, rather than Deryck just being vaguely conflicted because of his attraction to Alma, the way he in this book.
Admittedly, pacing in general is probably this book's weakest point. After the initial opening event, we are about two-thirds of the way through before things start picking up again. In between, it's really just a lot Alma going back-and-forth between Ambeth and Earth with some brief signals of how people on Earth are reacting to Alma's new strange behaviour, conversations and bonding with Caleb and sitting around in the library or the gardens. Nothing much happens to be honest. I also couldn't get a feel for how much time had passed since she first came to Ambeth. Two weeks, a month, maybe more? I really had no idea, although at some point there was a mention of Christmas. If it was more than a month, then I assume there were multiple days where she was just on Earth but almost every scene of her being back at home was just making herself something to eat, saying something evasive to her mother and going to sleep. Did really nothing else, apart from two conversations with her (ex?)best friend Sara, happen during that time?
In the last third of the book, the pace picks up again though and there's a satisfying short adventure, a lot more interaction with Deryck and storm clouds on the horizon for the future books. That brings me to Deryck and Alma. First off, let me say that in general I am sick and tired of love triangles, mainly because I've never much liked them anyway. However, as love triangles go this one is reasonably well done. It helps that Alma really doesn't view Caleb romantically (at least for now), making it not a choice of "which boy shall I love?" but more "how do I not hurt my friend?". Caleb is interested in her, but frankly, that's his problem imo. What I do like about Alma and Deryck is that although she's instantly all head over heels for him and Deryck has more interest in her than he ought to according to his side, this is not remotely insta-love. This is two teenagers, and especially Alma, having a huge crush. And she acts as incautiously as only a teenager with a crush on a very good-looking person will. And I really really like that, because that's so much easier to believe. And it doesn't leave me wanting to strangle Alma. So she gets a massive crush on what (at least for now) seems to the wrong guy. So what? Who hasn't at some point tbh? And yes, this is definitely going to cause her so many problems and she should have been more careful, but this is a believable mistake (which are characters are 100% allowed and supposed to make) and I am so appreciative of that.
Overall, I liked this book. I think a lot more could have been done with it, I certainly hope the following books will do those things and amp up the complexity and pacing a bit. But still, it's YA and it's quite light and that's not wrong. I enjoyed spending time with the characters. On a side note, occasionally I can see a bit of Fionavar peeping through the ride back with Thorion in the head after the sword was found, I dunno it just really had the vibe . I really hope the following books live up to the potential in this one. Oh and this is not a spoiler because I don't know yet if it's true, but: calling it right now, Caleb is related to the High King Thorion.
Although this book still struggles a bit under the inexperience that comes from being a debut novel, it's an enjoyable and engaging story, or really Act 1 in a story. Even in the midst of reading slump, it kept me reading instead of putting it to the side, like I did with 3 or 4 other perfectly good books. It's got hook, it's got unanswered questions and potential for themes and moral questions and it has some great side characters.
Speaking of characters, our protagonist Alma is a fairly likeable girl, although occasionally she borders on annoying. But mostly those moments are the ones where she acts without much though, as one who is being a bit blind to implications or consequences. Considering she's fifteen though, I think that's fair. Most fifteen year olds do have that quality and Alma's got a heart full of kindness to make up for it. I do have strong suspicions that easy-going, kind nature is going to get her into a world of trouble in later books. In this book, Alma's reaction to the whole Regalia quest is something I could really get. It's not some solemn acceptance although it is something that matters very much to the residents of Ambeth. Rather it's an: oh, OK, I guess I should. WHICH IS GREAT. Alma's a teenager who mainly wants to go to Ambeth because it's beautiful and it feels like home and because of her friendship with Caleb. The Regalia issue pretty much got dumped on her as part-and-parcel of coming there. A reluctance to spend time studying in a library (however beautiful) when she's got plenty of homework on Earth for something she doesn't really understand or fully realise the significance of is perfectly understandable (because teenager and also I as a reader thought, well it doesn't seem THAT urgent considering how long they've managed without them). I mean, it can occasionally feel like "Alma, stop slacking off now that you've said yes. No doubt it is actually important" but I did sympathise a little.
Which brings me to the idea of Light and Dark and the balance. This is where I see the most thematic potential for this series. Although it wasn't, a little disappointingly I will admit, much explored in this book, the idea of Light and Dark being dependent on one another but also being outwardly the same is one I like. There's a lot that can be explored there: how definite or extreme are Light and Dark? Is that the same for everyone? Can you change a born/innate nature? Does each contain a seed of the other? If you can't change it, if you are simply assigned Light or Dark at birth by your nature, how does that impact free will? Is that fair? Are the Light characters really all that brilliant? Light and Dark in this book seem to be the equivalent of good and evil, but is that true? Alma's bracelet that burns in the vicinity of Dark, is that really a warning or just an antagonism of something made by the Light? Deryck, the Dark boy that Alma gets a serious crush on (more on that in a second) seems to be the main character where these conflicts and questions will play out. But I have to say, I do hope that they do get played out, rather than Deryck just being vaguely conflicted because of his attraction to Alma, the way he in this book.
Admittedly, pacing in general is probably this book's weakest point. After the initial opening event, we are about two-thirds of the way through before things start picking up again. In between, it's really just a lot Alma going back-and-forth between Ambeth and Earth with some brief signals of how people on Earth are reacting to Alma's new strange behaviour, conversations and bonding with Caleb and sitting around in the library or the gardens. Nothing much happens to be honest. I also couldn't get a feel for how much time had passed since she first came to Ambeth. Two weeks, a month, maybe more? I really had no idea, although at some point there was a mention of Christmas. If it was more than a month, then I assume there were multiple days where she was just on Earth but almost every scene of her being back at home was just making herself something to eat, saying something evasive to her mother and going to sleep. Did really nothing else, apart from two conversations with her (ex?)best friend Sara, happen during that time?
In the last third of the book, the pace picks up again though and there's a satisfying short adventure, a lot more interaction with Deryck and storm clouds on the horizon for the future books. That brings me to Deryck and Alma. First off, let me say that in general I am sick and tired of love triangles, mainly because I've never much liked them anyway. However, as love triangles go this one is reasonably well done. It helps that Alma really doesn't view Caleb romantically (at least for now), making it not a choice of "which boy shall I love?" but more "how do I not hurt my friend?". Caleb is interested in her, but frankly, that's his problem imo. What I do like about Alma and Deryck is that although she's instantly all head over heels for him and Deryck has more interest in her than he ought to according to his side, this is not remotely insta-love. This is two teenagers, and especially Alma, having a huge crush. And she acts as incautiously as only a teenager with a crush on a very good-looking person will. And I really really like that, because that's so much easier to believe. And it doesn't leave me wanting to strangle Alma. So she gets a massive crush on what (at least for now) seems to the wrong guy. So what? Who hasn't at some point tbh? And yes, this is definitely going to cause her so many problems and she should have been more careful, but this is a believable mistake (which are characters are 100% allowed and supposed to make) and I am so appreciative of that.
Overall, I liked this book. I think a lot more could have been done with it, I certainly hope the following books will do those things and amp up the complexity and pacing a bit. But still, it's YA and it's quite light and that's not wrong. I enjoyed spending time with the characters. On a side note, occasionally I can see a bit of Fionavar peeping through