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A review by tobyyy
On the Road to Find Out by Rachel Toor
1.0
Ugh. I wanted to like this book, I really did. The premise is fairly unique (at least — not something I’ve seen done very often): that of a girl learning how to run in order to cope with life’s difficulties. Sounds like me, especially with her desire to want to like running although she finds it boring/difficult at the beginning.
But.
BUT.
Alice is insufferable. She’s rich and privileged, and so freakin’ whiny. Boo hoo, she didn’t get accepted to Yale, her life has ended, cue Suicide jokes (and then she gets upset when her mom is worried about leaving her alone/unsupervised???!).
Also.
If I wanted to read a rat keeper’s handbook, I would’ve gotten one. I’m all for loving animals and integrating that love into books. Yes PLEASE. But spare us the preachiness of why rats are better than any other rodent (it’s fine if that’s the character’s opinion but DON’T PREACH). As a mom of four guinea pigs, being told that “they’re stupid, sorry not sorry” does not endear me to you as a narrator, and also doesn’t do jack to convince me of how amazing rats are. (Side note, I almost adopted rats instead of guinea pigs. But each rodent has their positives and negatives. Just gonna leave it at that.)
And spare us all of the scientific facts. It’s somewhat telling that this author also wrote the book “Misunderstood: Why the Humble Rat May Be Your Best Pet Ever”; it feels like she copy-pasted sections of that book into this one. NGL.
AND.
Don’t use “big words” and then include their definitions in the middle of your paragraphs. It’s awkward. Example:
“They parry (“to wave off a weapon or blow”) compliments the way that Captain Jack Sparrow brandishes (“to wave or shake”) a sword.” (p. 40)
I had to read that three times to actually be able to parse the sentence correctly. SO UNNECESSARILY CLUNKY.
Not to mention, I know all the words used — it’s not like “pristine,” “parry,” “juxtapose,” and “delineate” are THAT impressive. It clutters up the narrative and makes me feel like I’m reading an SAT handbook instead of a novel. Please just stop.
Ughhhhhhhh.
But.
BUT.
Alice is insufferable. She’s rich and privileged, and so freakin’ whiny. Boo hoo, she didn’t get accepted to Yale, her life has ended, cue Suicide jokes (and then she gets upset when her mom is worried about leaving her alone/unsupervised???!).
Also.
If I wanted to read a rat keeper’s handbook, I would’ve gotten one. I’m all for loving animals and integrating that love into books. Yes PLEASE. But spare us the preachiness of why rats are better than any other rodent (it’s fine if that’s the character’s opinion but DON’T PREACH). As a mom of four guinea pigs, being told that “they’re stupid, sorry not sorry” does not endear me to you as a narrator, and also doesn’t do jack to convince me of how amazing rats are. (Side note, I almost adopted rats instead of guinea pigs. But each rodent has their positives and negatives. Just gonna leave it at that.)
And spare us all of the scientific facts. It’s somewhat telling that this author also wrote the book “Misunderstood: Why the Humble Rat May Be Your Best Pet Ever”; it feels like she copy-pasted sections of that book into this one. NGL.
AND.
Don’t use “big words” and then include their definitions in the middle of your paragraphs. It’s awkward. Example:
“They parry (“to wave off a weapon or blow”) compliments the way that Captain Jack Sparrow brandishes (“to wave or shake”) a sword.” (p. 40)
I had to read that three times to actually be able to parse the sentence correctly. SO UNNECESSARILY CLUNKY.
Not to mention, I know all the words used — it’s not like “pristine,” “parry,” “juxtapose,” and “delineate” are THAT impressive. It clutters up the narrative and makes me feel like I’m reading an SAT handbook instead of a novel. Please just stop.
Ughhhhhhhh.