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A review by theshiftyshadow
The Apocalypse of Elena Mendoza by Shaun David Hutchinson
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
(Realistically I'm probably never going to rate a YA book 5 stars, except for the one that I did..... so 3.5 is, relatively speaking, a very decent rating.)
I enjoyed this for the most part. Any issues I had with it stem from the fact it's YA and I am not the target audience for that, so they're not flaws as such. I find with most YA I've read that they always touch on some heavy issues but tend to only go surface deep, especially emotionally. I guess that's kind of accurate for teenagers, but as an adult reader I'm often left frustrated when scenes end too soon, or conversely, when a character has some overly profound thoughts on an issue. But as I said, that seems to be a common feature of this type of book and something I've come to expect the odd time I read one.
That said I liked the characters, and I liked the plot. I liked that the author didn't try overly hard to explain what was happening, but did enough to make it believable that it was. I really liked how they had Elena have to reassess her friendships/relationships along the way. The romance was nicely done, and I appreciated the acknowledgment that crushes are quite often based on the people we imagine someone to be, and how they took the time to allow Elena and Freddie to get to know each other properly. A lot of the interactions between the characters felt refreshingly healthy but in a believable way.
At times it did start to feel a little repetitive, especially with other characters constantly telling Elena that she was making too big a deal of having to make a choice. That also got a little bit annoying simply because the choice she was making was genuinely difficult and could have monumental consequences, so she was making a perfectly acceptable sized deal about it, in my opinion. But I guess the point, or message, or whatever, of the book was about letting people make their own choices and the repeated conversations were there to drill home that idea, rather than to make light of Elena's choice.
I enjoyed this for the most part. Any issues I had with it stem from the fact it's YA and I am not the target audience for that, so they're not flaws as such. I find with most YA I've read that they always touch on some heavy issues but tend to only go surface deep, especially emotionally. I guess that's kind of accurate for teenagers, but as an adult reader I'm often left frustrated when scenes end too soon, or conversely, when a character has some overly profound thoughts on an issue. But as I said, that seems to be a common feature of this type of book and something I've come to expect the odd time I read one.
That said I liked the characters, and I liked the plot. I liked that the author didn't try overly hard to explain what was happening, but did enough to make it believable that it was. I really liked how they had Elena have to reassess her friendships/relationships along the way. The romance was nicely done, and I appreciated the acknowledgment that crushes are quite often based on the people we imagine someone to be, and how they took the time to allow Elena and Freddie to get to know each other properly. A lot of the interactions between the characters felt refreshingly healthy but in a believable way.
At times it did start to feel a little repetitive, especially with other characters constantly telling Elena that she was making too big a deal of having to make a choice. That also got a little bit annoying simply because the choice she was making was genuinely difficult and could have monumental consequences, so she was making a perfectly acceptable sized deal about it, in my opinion. But I guess the point, or message, or whatever, of the book was about letting people make their own choices and the repeated conversations were there to drill home that idea, rather than to make light of Elena's choice.