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A review by magaramach
Into the Bright Unknown by Rae Carson
4.0
So, first off, I love this trilogy, love love love it. The first book is actually on my favourites list. This one is probably the weakest book in the trilogy - the only reason for this is the plot is unclear and confusing to a dumbass like me. That didn’t mean it wasn’t great, though.
One thing to know is that I love historical fiction, but I am so picky about it. People if colour weren’t invented in 1990, and I have no patience for writers whitewashing and straightwashing times that weren’t actually so white and straight. That’s probably why I love Gold Seer as much as I do - there are 4 abled straight white men in this book: two villains, the 4-year-old son of a main character, and some random sailor they hire halfway through. Not only do we see all these amazing people and cultures intermingling in California, the book constantly makes Leah, the protagonist, check her privilege and realize how unfair life is for everyone around her. She’s fully exposed to the injustice Black, Chinese, and Native American peoples have to deal with in the creation of California.*
And the characters themselves - they’re my favourite part of this entire series. It was fecking fantastic to see all these random people grow closer together into a found family over the first book, and stay close and supporting to each other now. Although, the fact that no drama could come from those relationships meant they were at the background in favour of numerous confrontations with the villain, which meant we didn’t see Leah’s friends as much as we should have. Anyways, what we did see of them was amazing.
I liked the magic aspect of the book being expanded, the mysteries surrounding her powers related to gold and the confusing things her Uncle Hiram said about her parents coming to light. I think the mystery of her parents could have come out in a better way than it did, though - it was found out hanging out in a restaurant with Jim, who just unloads all this stuff on her and doesn’t give her a chance to really feel anything about it.**
My favourite characters;
- Jefferson, the half-Cherokee love interest. He’s just sweet and doesn’t do anything wrong ever.
- Mary, this badass Chinese girl who’s been through hell and back. She’s sarcastic and prickly and funny and I love her.
- Honestly Leah is pretty great too.
- Hampton, an escaped slave who just wants to see his wife and I can respect that.
- they’re all pretty great, so honourable mention to Becky’s kids, who are adorable, Becky herself (owner of the Worst Tavern in California, kid of an asshole but she’s trying), the Major (this disabled guy who just wants Becky to notice he exists), the college men (3 gay guys who just want to hang out in California), and Jim Boisclair (an actual real person who Carson thought was so awesome she needed him in her story).
Favourite relationship:
- Jefferson and Leah they’re cuties who support and love each other unconditionally and it’s a running gag that they’re being cute and someone notices and complains about how cute they’re being
- Leah and Mary: essentially, Mary is rude to Leah and Leah thinks Mary is the best and that’s it. That’s their entire friendship and I love it.
SPOILERCORNERSPOILERCORNER SPOILERCORNERSPOILERCORNERSPOILE
Favourite scenes;
- There’s this one where Tom or Henry is horrified that no one there votes in elections before he realizes there’s only like 3 people of the 7 there that are actually eligible to vote
- Every time Jefferson and Leah are acting cute and someone tells them to stop because they’re gross and mushy
- Every time Jim makes Leah check her privilege
* The subplots in this were: trying to get their friend who bought his way out of slavery his freedom after some people illegally kidnaped him, and trying to get Leah’s mother figure’s house back when she couldn’t own property. Actually, now that I’m thinking about it, that’s much less subplots than usual - I think that might be sort of the problem as to why this book was less good. It didn’t use its characters, and the characters are the reason I come back to this series.
**Like, she found out she was a product of rape and that her mom had powers, too, and we just don’t see her emotions regarding the subject later. That’s pretty heavy stuff.
One thing to know is that I love historical fiction, but I am so picky about it. People if colour weren’t invented in 1990, and I have no patience for writers whitewashing and straightwashing times that weren’t actually so white and straight. That’s probably why I love Gold Seer as much as I do - there are 4 abled straight white men in this book: two villains, the 4-year-old son of a main character, and some random sailor they hire halfway through. Not only do we see all these amazing people and cultures intermingling in California, the book constantly makes Leah, the protagonist, check her privilege and realize how unfair life is for everyone around her. She’s fully exposed to the injustice Black, Chinese, and Native American peoples have to deal with in the creation of California.*
And the characters themselves - they’re my favourite part of this entire series. It was fecking fantastic to see all these random people grow closer together into a found family over the first book, and stay close and supporting to each other now. Although, the fact that no drama could come from those relationships meant they were at the background in favour of numerous confrontations with the villain, which meant we didn’t see Leah’s friends as much as we should have. Anyways, what we did see of them was amazing.
I liked the magic aspect of the book being expanded, the mysteries surrounding her powers related to gold and the confusing things her Uncle Hiram said about her parents coming to light. I think the mystery of her parents could have come out in a better way than it did, though - it was found out hanging out in a restaurant with Jim, who just unloads all this stuff on her and doesn’t give her a chance to really feel anything about it.**
My favourite characters;
- Jefferson, the half-Cherokee love interest. He’s just sweet and doesn’t do anything wrong ever.
- Mary, this badass Chinese girl who’s been through hell and back. She’s sarcastic and prickly and funny and I love her.
- Honestly Leah is pretty great too.
- Hampton, an escaped slave who just wants to see his wife and I can respect that.
- they’re all pretty great, so honourable mention to Becky’s kids, who are adorable, Becky herself (owner of the Worst Tavern in California, kid of an asshole but she’s trying), the Major (this disabled guy who just wants Becky to notice he exists), the college men (3 gay guys who just want to hang out in California), and Jim Boisclair (an actual real person who Carson thought was so awesome she needed him in her story).
Favourite relationship:
- Jefferson and Leah they’re cuties who support and love each other unconditionally and it’s a running gag that they’re being cute and someone notices and complains about how cute they’re being
- Leah and Mary: essentially, Mary is rude to Leah and Leah thinks Mary is the best and that’s it. That’s their entire friendship and I love it.
SPOILERCORNERSPOILERCORNER SPOILERCORNERSPOILERCORNERSPOILE
Favourite scenes;
- There’s this one where Tom or Henry is horrified that no one there votes in elections before he realizes there’s only like 3 people of the 7 there that are actually eligible to vote
- Every time Jefferson and Leah are acting cute and someone tells them to stop because they’re gross and mushy
- Every time Jim makes Leah check her privilege
* The subplots in this were: trying to get their friend who bought his way out of slavery his freedom after some people illegally kidnaped him, and trying to get Leah’s mother figure’s house back when she couldn’t own property. Actually, now that I’m thinking about it, that’s much less subplots than usual - I think that might be sort of the problem as to why this book was less good. It didn’t use its characters, and the characters are the reason I come back to this series.
**Like, she found out she was a product of rape and that her mom had powers, too, and we just don’t see her emotions regarding the subject later. That’s pretty heavy stuff.