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A review by piburnjones
The Legend of the Shark Goddess: A Nanea Mystery by Juliana Kolesova, Erin Falligant
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
The great AG marathon continues. Again, reading for the first time as an adult, inspired by the American Girls podcast.
Where so many AG mysteries lean on a new setting or a new collection of supporting characters, this one keeps Nanea at home, surrounded by the friends and family we've gotten to know in her first two books. It doesn't always line up this way, but this is a case where those factors also allow for Nanea to get some character growth, which is always what I want most.
That aside, there's also a chunk in the middle of this book that had me gritting my teeth because it was so clear that everyone just needed to TALK to each other. But when it became clear that secrets and burdens and communicating the right way (offering help and sharing burdens rather than making accusations) was part of the intended theme, I started to cut the book a lot more slack.
Over the course of the book, it begins to seem that everyone has a secret, many of them related to the war effort. And for a time, Nanea fears that many of these secrets are because people are breaking the rules, something she gets very concerned about. In the end, all of these dark secrets turn out to be pretty harmless in a lovely, happy ending kind of way. Though I did wish Tutu had just explained about Mano to begin with when Nanea first worried he was stealing.
As an adult reader, the one element of the ending that doesn't quite stick the landing is that we leave Mano living in a cave with a bunch of other boys like a real world Peter Pan. He talks a big game about taking care of his family, but he's just a kid himself... seems like adults perhaps should be offering more help than just hiring him to paint fences.
Where so many AG mysteries lean on a new setting or a new collection of supporting characters, this one keeps Nanea at home, surrounded by the friends and family we've gotten to know in her first two books. It doesn't always line up this way, but this is a case where those factors also allow for Nanea to get some character growth, which is always what I want most.
That aside, there's also a chunk in the middle of this book that had me gritting my teeth because it was so clear that everyone just needed to TALK to each other. But when it became clear that secrets and burdens and communicating the right way (offering help and sharing burdens rather than making accusations) was part of the intended theme, I started to cut the book a lot more slack.
Over the course of the book, it begins to seem that everyone has a secret, many of them related to the war effort. And for a time, Nanea fears that many of these secrets are because people are breaking the rules, something she gets very concerned about. In the end, all of these dark secrets turn out to be pretty harmless in a lovely, happy ending kind of way. Though I did wish Tutu had just explained about Mano to begin with when Nanea first worried he was stealing.
As an adult reader, the one element of the ending that doesn't quite stick the landing is that we leave Mano living in a cave with a bunch of other boys like a real world Peter Pan. He talks a big game about taking care of his family, but he's just a kid himself... seems like adults perhaps should be offering more help than just hiring him to paint fences.