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A review by rhovingh
Click: One Novel, Ten Authors by David Almond
3.0
2.5 stars. I don't know whether this book was worth reading or not. It's not at all cohesive (thanks for helping me find the right word, Mom), and not only does the voice change with the authors, but there is no plot, the characters change randomly without any development, and I'm left feeling as if this story is going every direction at once. That being said, I really enjoyed some of the chapters.
We got off to a good start with Linda Sue Park, who set up a story that could go so many different ways. This chapter gets 4 stars.
The next chapter, by David Almond, is really interesting. I really like his descriptions and the voice he uses, but there are some weird parts that didn't really seem necessary. However, this does tie directly in with Linda Sue Park's chapter and for that this chapter gets 3.5 stars.
Next chapter is Eoin Colfer. I have no problem with this chapter by itself but it is the only funny chapter in the whole book, and Colfer made Jason into a character that no one else seemed able to develop. On its own, this chapter get 3 stars, but in terms of fitting in with the rest of the book, 1 star. Absolutely out of place.
Deborah Ellis' chapter was really good, both on its own and in terms of fitting in. 4 stars.
I hated Nick Hornby's chapter. Hated it. 0 stars. just lame.
Roddy Doyle's chapter was a bit hard to follow with all of the characters and names and such, but was good anyway. I liked that he chose to tell the story of one of Gee's photographs. 3 stars.
Tim Wynne-Jones' chapter was pretty intense, and a little bit unexpected coming after Doyle's chapter. It felt unlike any of the other chapters, but I liked it. I didn't like how he completely changed Jason's character, but it's good that someone followed through on Colfer's chapter. 3 stars.
Ruth Ozeki's chapter was very good, directly tied in to Linda Sue Park's chapter. 4 stars.
Lanagan's and Maguire's chapters were my least favorite, except for Hornby's. Really, they had an impossible job to do, which was tying up the million loose ends and trying to give the story one direction. I feel like these two chapters fit together, but were really disjointed from the rest of the book.
The problem with this book is that some authors seemed to try to make there be an overarching plot, while some authors were just interested in telling small stories, separate from any others. Even worse, Hornby's chapter tried to fit in with a bigger plot, but nobody else used anything from it, and it seemed to out of place. So...take out Hornby's chapter, ask Colfer to tone down the outrageousness of his chapter, and change the last two chapters. Then you have a story without as much of a plot, but way more interesting and really actually more cohesive. The chapters in this book that I liked, I really liked. But they couldn't make up for the really bad/boring chapters.
We got off to a good start with Linda Sue Park, who set up a story that could go so many different ways.
Spoiler
I really liked the story of the shells, and I liked that this book could have been about Maggie going to those places to put the shells back, or could have been about Gee.The next chapter, by David Almond, is really interesting. I really like his descriptions and the voice he uses, but there are some weird parts that didn't really seem necessary. However, this does tie directly in with Linda Sue Park's chapter
Spoiler
by telling the story of how Gee got one of his shellsNext chapter is Eoin Colfer. I have no problem with this chapter by itself but it is the only funny chapter in the whole book, and Colfer made Jason into a character that no one else seemed able to develop. On its own, this chapter get 3 stars, but in terms of fitting in with the rest of the book, 1 star. Absolutely out of place.
Deborah Ellis' chapter was really good, both on its own and in terms of fitting in. 4 stars.
I hated Nick Hornby's chapter. Hated it.
Spoiler
I honestly think that the whole "family in France" thing was just a plot device. Even though at first I was like, "OK, I don't really like this, but I'll see where it goes", but it just didn't go anywhere useful to the plot. at all.Roddy Doyle's chapter was a bit hard to follow with all of the characters and names and such, but was good anyway. I liked that he chose to tell the story of one of Gee's photographs. 3 stars.
Tim Wynne-Jones' chapter was pretty intense, and a little bit unexpected coming after Doyle's chapter. It felt unlike any of the other chapters, but I liked it. I didn't like how he completely changed Jason's character, but it's good that someone followed through on Colfer's chapter. 3 stars.
Ruth Ozeki's chapter was very good, directly tied in to Linda Sue Park's chapter. 4 stars.
Lanagan's and Maguire's chapters were my least favorite, except for Hornby's. Really, they had an impossible job to do, which was tying up the million loose ends and trying to give the story one direction.
Spoiler
But that being said, I think they could have done better. I didn't like that they were set in the future; that was super confusing. Especially Lanagan's, because some words were Australian, and some were futuristic, and I was really mixed up.The problem with this book is that some authors seemed to try to make there be an overarching plot, while some authors were just interested in telling small stories, separate from any others. Even worse, Hornby's chapter tried to fit in with a bigger plot, but nobody else used anything from it, and it seemed to out of place. So...take out Hornby's chapter, ask Colfer to tone down the outrageousness of his chapter, and change the last two chapters. Then you have a story without as much of a plot, but way more interesting and really actually more cohesive. The chapters in this book that I liked, I really liked. But they couldn't make up for the really bad/boring chapters.