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A review by ralen356
When the Sea Turned to Silver by Grace Lin
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Loved it!
Not much to say really
I may or may not have suffered severely from reading several bad books in a row, and that may or may not have caused me to zone out and completely lose the plot, but that's ok! Lin still managed to enrapture me in the scraps of plot I managed to figure out. XD
Edit:
I will say that upon rereading, some things did stand out to me, especially the writing style. See, this book's plot is based on urgency. The main character's grandmother is captured, and presumably in danger, warranting immediate action. The writing style does not convey a sense of urgency at all. It is very poetic, and filled with similes. I am not well acquainted with writing devices, but one I know of is that successive short sentences convey a sense of urgency. Poetic writing kind of does the opposite of that. It was simply not the place to be poetic. In addition to that, I thought that the use of similes was excessive, and could be varied with some metaphors. Put it this way, if you highlight an entire page, then nothing stands out because everything is highlighted. Also, the subjects of the simile comparisons felt out of place. Again, I am no expert on writing a book at all, but it felt that some similes existed for a wow factor, rather than serving some purpose.
I absolutely loved the use of stories throughout, but its excess also conflicted with the plot's sense of urgency. This definitely weakened the plot as a whole, ignoring the initial purpose for the journey, and focusing on more of the details in between.
The writing style itself is incredibly comforting to me, being a fan of poetic writing, but really clashed with the plot.
Not much to say really
I may or may not have suffered severely from reading several bad books in a row, and that may or may not have caused me to zone out and completely lose the plot, but that's ok! Lin still managed to enrapture me in the scraps of plot I managed to figure out. XD
Edit:
I will say that upon rereading, some things did stand out to me, especially the writing style. See, this book's plot is based on urgency. The main character's grandmother is captured, and presumably in danger, warranting immediate action. The writing style does not convey a sense of urgency at all. It is very poetic, and filled with similes. I am not well acquainted with writing devices, but one I know of is that successive short sentences convey a sense of urgency. Poetic writing kind of does the opposite of that. It was simply not the place to be poetic. In addition to that, I thought that the use of similes was excessive, and could be varied with some metaphors. Put it this way, if you highlight an entire page, then nothing stands out because everything is highlighted. Also, the subjects of the simile comparisons felt out of place. Again, I am no expert on writing a book at all, but it felt that some similes existed for a wow factor, rather than serving some purpose.
I absolutely loved the use of stories throughout, but its excess also conflicted with the plot's sense of urgency. This definitely weakened the plot as a whole, ignoring the initial purpose for the journey, and focusing on more of the details in between.
The writing style itself is incredibly comforting to me, being a fan of poetic writing, but really clashed with the plot.