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carolinethereader 's review for:
The Serpent King
by Jeff Zentner
RATING this book is very difficult for me. Part of me wants to give it a higher rating because it made me cry and I was quite swept up by the emotion of the story. Another (meaner) part of me wants to keep the rating at three stars because the characters were annoying as fuck sometimes and there were aspects of the story that felt manipulative and frustrating.
Positives first: this book follows three main characters from a small town who are coming to the end of their time in high school and trying to decide what they will do when they graduate. Lydia can't wait to get away but Dill has family debt he has to work to pay off. There's a lot of pressure and stress surrounding this and it was really well done. Deciding what to do after HS was something I struggled with so I found that part of the book relatable. Grief was also a key theme of the book and it was so powerful in certain moments I would get teary. Those parts were well-written and resonated with me a lot. Fave character was Travis who is the third friend and an adorable bookworm.
On to some of the negatives and stuff that frustrated me. First is Dill and Lydia; they are both flawed characters and there were times when I loved them but I frequently found them to be frustratingly selfish people who took out their problems on those around them. Lydia was quite a strong female at times (which I loved because she wouldn't take any shit) but there were other times when she bordered on cold and it was confusing.
Although the portrayal of grief was well done I think the writing was a little meh. The book has a lot of dialogue and I always found myself wanting more description. The book switches perspectives and sometimes the voices of the characters were similar and didn't add anything unique.
I enjoyed the experience of reading this book and still recommend it! There's a lot of religion in it (and it's shown in quite an extreme, somewhat negative way) which I didn't mind but some other reviewers have mentioned that they disliked it so just a heads up. I'd be keen to read more by this author for sure.
Positives first: this book follows three main characters from a small town who are coming to the end of their time in high school and trying to decide what they will do when they graduate. Lydia can't wait to get away but Dill has family debt he has to work to pay off. There's a lot of pressure and stress surrounding this and it was really well done. Deciding what to do after HS was something I struggled with so I found that part of the book relatable. Grief was also a key theme of the book and it was so powerful in certain moments I would get teary. Those parts were well-written and resonated with me a lot. Fave character was Travis who is the third friend and an adorable bookworm.
On to some of the negatives and stuff that frustrated me. First is Dill and Lydia; they are both flawed characters and there were times when I loved them but I frequently found them to be frustratingly selfish people who took out their problems on those around them. Lydia was quite a strong female at times (which I loved because she wouldn't take any shit) but there were other times when she bordered on cold and it was confusing.
Although the portrayal of grief was well done I think the writing was a little meh. The book has a lot of dialogue and I always found myself wanting more description. The book switches perspectives and sometimes the voices of the characters were similar and didn't add anything unique.
I enjoyed the experience of reading this book and still recommend it! There's a lot of religion in it (and it's shown in quite an extreme, somewhat negative way) which I didn't mind but some other reviewers have mentioned that they disliked it so just a heads up. I'd be keen to read more by this author for sure.