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bsbookkorner 's review for:
Navola
by Paolo Bacigalupi
This book. I have such mixed feelings about this book. I want to love it, but I can't. I want to hate it, but I can't.
First off, this book starts out slow. And I mean like snail pace slow. It took me four days to get through the first 150 pages because it was so slow that I kept falling asleep. I almost DNFed it. However, it started to pick up a little after that but still didn't really grip my interest until about 250 pages in. The amount of backstory written is excessive, in my opinion. Yes, some backstory is always nice, but the first third of the book is mainly backstory. I found this to be highly unnecessary since no intense world building was required. I think if that would have been condensed, I would have like the story so much more.
The characters in this book are all atrocious. Everyone is a liar. Everyone is prone to betrayal. Everyone only looks out for their best interest. Then you have poor Davico. I don't know how he came to be as a person in such a wretched land, but he is so gentle and innocent compared to those around him. I feel really bad and completely understand why he was tempted by the evil fossil sitting on the desk. It may be evil, but at least it's honest about it's intentions.
Once it finally got going, the plot was intriguing. Not as much fantasy as I would like to see in a fantasy novel, but the second half was still worth the read and did incorporate more of the fantasy elements I was looking for.
First off, this book starts out slow. And I mean like snail pace slow. It took me four days to get through the first 150 pages because it was so slow that I kept falling asleep. I almost DNFed it. However, it started to pick up a little after that but still didn't really grip my interest until about 250 pages in. The amount of backstory written is excessive, in my opinion. Yes, some backstory is always nice, but the first third of the book is mainly backstory. I found this to be highly unnecessary since no intense world building was required. I think if that would have been condensed, I would have like the story so much more.
The characters in this book are all atrocious. Everyone is a liar. Everyone is prone to betrayal. Everyone only looks out for their best interest. Then you have poor Davico. I don't know how he came to be as a person in such a wretched land, but he is so gentle and innocent compared to those around him. I feel really bad and completely understand why he was tempted by the evil fossil sitting on the desk. It may be evil, but at least it's honest about it's intentions.
Once it finally got going, the plot was intriguing. Not as much fantasy as I would like to see in a fantasy novel, but the second half was still worth the read and did incorporate more of the fantasy elements I was looking for.