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A review by krisglomb
Pilar Ramirez and the Escape from Zafa by Julian Randall
4.0
Really really liked this book! I thought, compared to a lot of YA books, there was a strong and meaningful emotional character arc for our lead.
My bookclub and I were surprised to find this book was written by a man because of the strong feminist themes, we also appreciated that fully formed female characters were being highlighted in a way where they weren’t constantly being compared to men. The few male characters (of note) in the book are the bad guys (but again, this is in no way a “men vs women” struggle rather an “evil vs good”). This detail is hardly something you would notice if you weren’t looking for it and that subtlety alone I think is worth applause.
The metaphors the author built to describe cultural memory, displacement, and erasure were really powerful. He managed to bring forward dark and difficult historical topics in a way that is appropriate and approachable to the targeted age group.
My only gripe with the book, and this is coming from someone far outside of the target audience, is that I felt the action and battle sequences distracted and, to a certain extent, detracted from the the really strong story of these characters finding themself, their power, and their worthiness within the worlds they reside. I felt like I got the plot climax the book was leading me to, but not the emotional one that would’ve left me thinking about this for months to come. The world building was ok, but again, this felt like a story more about the emotional arc than about the details of the world. Plus, I think enough was put in to be able to build something on if there are later books in the series.
Overall, I highly recommend!
My bookclub and I were surprised to find this book was written by a man because of the strong feminist themes, we also appreciated that fully formed female characters were being highlighted in a way where they weren’t constantly being compared to men. The few male characters (of note) in the book are the bad guys (but again, this is in no way a “men vs women” struggle rather an “evil vs good”). This detail is hardly something you would notice if you weren’t looking for it and that subtlety alone I think is worth applause.
The metaphors the author built to describe cultural memory, displacement, and erasure were really powerful. He managed to bring forward dark and difficult historical topics in a way that is appropriate and approachable to the targeted age group.
My only gripe with the book, and this is coming from someone far outside of the target audience, is that I felt the action and battle sequences distracted and, to a certain extent, detracted from the the really strong story of these characters finding themself, their power, and their worthiness within the worlds they reside. I felt like I got the plot climax the book was leading me to, but not the emotional one that would’ve left me thinking about this for months to come. The world building was ok, but again, this felt like a story more about the emotional arc than about the details of the world. Plus, I think enough was put in to be able to build something on if there are later books in the series.
Overall, I highly recommend!