Scan barcode
A review by paprikapincushion
The Rise of Skywalker: Expanded Edition by Rae Carson
4.0
Though there were moments where I felt the writing was just a play by play, constant action and reaction, and unending references to Kylo as “Kylo Ren” instead of just Kylo or just Ren, this novelization filled in (all? many?) of the plot holes that were either not well crafted or ceased to exist in the theatrical storyline. My main disappointment was the length- my ebook version was only 268 pages long, and as a regular fantasy reader I tend to expect at least 400 pages for a novel to be decent! Hell, give me 600 pages and I’m the happiest strawberry in the patch.
For all those scenes where you wished you’d had Zori’s perspective, or Kylo’s, or Allegiant General Pryde’s, we were given precious sentences (and even some paragraphs!) describing facial expressions and feelings that simply weren’t present in the film.
I feel more content with Rey and Ben’s final canonical scene, (my feelings of which have only been mollified by dozens of Reylo fan fictions and fix-its) and though the book could have told even more of his story, as well as even more of his and Rey’s POV, (it still provided a lot more than the film- my eyes drank each precious sentence of his that was not in the film) I don’t think it would ever have been enough for the Reylo fandom- because to us there was no ending without them alive, building a future together.
The fact that Adam had NO lines in the final cut provided a lot of opportunity for Rae Carson to describe Ben’s POV, so I am grateful for that (though we ALL saw the way he looked at Rey in those final moments- maybe Adam was just so damn good at playing the part that he knew words would not do it justice (*cough* Hayden Christensen in every gag scene from Attack of the Clones that makes me sweat and turn off the film after only 7 minutes).
May Ben live forever in the force and our hearts! Read this and enjoy, and if you feel so inspired, go write your own fix-it.
For all those scenes where you wished you’d had Zori’s perspective, or Kylo’s, or Allegiant General Pryde’s, we were given precious sentences (and even some paragraphs!) describing facial expressions and feelings that simply weren’t present in the film.
I feel more content with Rey and Ben’s final canonical scene, (my feelings of which have only been mollified by dozens of Reylo fan fictions and fix-its) and though the book could have told even more of his story, as well as even more of his and Rey’s POV, (it still provided a lot more than the film- my eyes drank each precious sentence of his that was not in the film) I don’t think it would ever have been enough for the Reylo fandom- because to us there was no ending without them alive, building a future together.
The fact that Adam had NO lines in the final cut provided a lot of opportunity for Rae Carson to describe Ben’s POV, so I am grateful for that (though we ALL saw the way he looked at Rey in those final moments- maybe Adam was just so damn good at playing the part that he knew words would not do it justice (*cough* Hayden Christensen in every gag scene from Attack of the Clones that makes me sweat and turn off the film after only 7 minutes).
May Ben live forever in the force and our hearts! Read this and enjoy, and if you feel so inspired, go write your own fix-it.