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A review by xeyra1
Updraft by Fran Wilde
4.0
I confess that parts of this book seemed very formulaic of the dystopian genre. Societies divided in different towers are much like societies divided by districts or personality-based ranks. The powerful with secrets that an intrepid young teenager is going to find out and expose in order to change society for the better. It's all very 'been there, read that'. What usually makes something so cliched work is characters, writing and world-building, all of which Updraft is ranked very positively.
The writing is great, and though it cannot entirely avoid some of the tropes of the genre, it's compelling enough that you don't really care that they're there because the story is drawing you in. The fascinating society Fran Wilde has built with this universe, where people live in very high towers built on bone and are both united and divided by them. Transportation is done by flying with artificial wings and everyone does or grows up to do so. Tower loyalty is the most important aspect of this society, and your own tower's security is paramount, even if it means letting another tower fend for itself so you don't danger to your door. This is important due to the skymouths, tentacled predators that prowl the skies and may attack at any moment.
Our protagonist is a bit non-conforming towards this divide, wanting to become a trader like her mother in order to contact and help other towers in a way that's more acceptable to the society. And due to a thoughtless mistake and a bit of happenstance, she is deemed a lawbreaker and thus begins the story. Kirit is actually a really compelling protagonist with whom you can identify with. The story is told through her perspective and not once did I feel like slapping her for being too dumb (well, maybe a bit in the end because of what was unleashed) or too preoccupied with sex and guys and romantic triangles to have a proper logical thought in her head (there's only a smidgen of a romantic hint in this novel instead of full blown trope-y and angst-filled teenaged romantic melodrama).
There are some really beautiful moments in the novel and some really interesting secondary characters whom I really liked, and there's an interesting usage of traditional songs and law reciting. There's also some aspects that are less explored and where some suspension of disbelief is needed. For example, not once in the novel do I remember reading that our protagonist, Kirit, had any kind of martial training in weapons or otherwise; however, not long after she begins a certain training, she is being asked to enter combat and she fares very well at it. I understand that in a world under constant attack by tentacled flying monsters some kind of fighting would be taught to all their population, a bit of a hint towards this would have been nice earlier on, because all I could think was that this particular brand of badassery came out of nowhere.
Then there's the confusing end, where in order to expose secrets, Kirit just quite possibly gets a lot of people killed, and I guess this is typical of teenagers making any kind of important decisions without being fully aware of how bad the consequences can get, but I'd been enjoying this character so much for not being particularly stupid and then she goes and makes such a stupid, potentially lethal, move. And everyone just goes with it, too! It didn't ruin the book for me; it's a good ending in a way, if you don't think too much about how fast people came to her side, but her thoughtlessness did make me like Kirit a little less by the end of the book.
I am, however, looking forward to the next installment of this series and I do recommend it, dystopian tropes and all, because it is one of the better written in the genre I've read lately.
The writing is great, and though it cannot entirely avoid some of the tropes of the genre, it's compelling enough that you don't really care that they're there because the story is drawing you in. The fascinating society Fran Wilde has built with this universe, where people live in very high towers built on bone and are both united and divided by them. Transportation is done by flying with artificial wings and everyone does or grows up to do so. Tower loyalty is the most important aspect of this society, and your own tower's security is paramount, even if it means letting another tower fend for itself so you don't danger to your door. This is important due to the skymouths, tentacled predators that prowl the skies and may attack at any moment.
Our protagonist is a bit non-conforming towards this divide, wanting to become a trader like her mother in order to contact and help other towers in a way that's more acceptable to the society. And due to a thoughtless mistake and a bit of happenstance, she is deemed a lawbreaker and thus begins the story. Kirit is actually a really compelling protagonist with whom you can identify with. The story is told through her perspective and not once did I feel like slapping her for being too dumb (well, maybe a bit in the end because of what was unleashed) or too preoccupied with sex and guys and romantic triangles to have a proper logical thought in her head (there's only a smidgen of a romantic hint in this novel instead of full blown trope-y and angst-filled teenaged romantic melodrama).
There are some really beautiful moments in the novel and some really interesting secondary characters whom I really liked, and there's an interesting usage of traditional songs and law reciting. There's also some aspects that are less explored and where some suspension of disbelief is needed. For example, not once in the novel do I remember reading that our protagonist, Kirit, had any kind of martial training in weapons or otherwise; however, not long after she begins a certain training, she is being asked to enter combat and she fares very well at it. I understand that in a world under constant attack by tentacled flying monsters some kind of fighting would be taught to all their population, a bit of a hint towards this would have been nice earlier on, because all I could think was that this particular brand of badassery came out of nowhere.
Then there's the confusing end, where in order to expose secrets, Kirit just quite possibly gets a lot of people killed, and I guess this is typical of teenagers making any kind of important decisions without being fully aware of how bad the consequences can get, but I'd been enjoying this character so much for not being particularly stupid and then she goes and makes such a stupid, potentially lethal, move. And everyone just goes with it, too! It didn't ruin the book for me; it's a good ending in a way, if you don't think too much about how fast people came to her side, but her thoughtlessness did make me like Kirit a little less by the end of the book.
I am, however, looking forward to the next installment of this series and I do recommend it, dystopian tropes and all, because it is one of the better written in the genre I've read lately.