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A review by ravencrantz
Seeking the Storyteller by Jessica Walsh, Briana Lawrence
3.0
2.5/3
(Rounding up because I do like to support new authors)
HEADS UP SPOILERS AHEAD
So much potential. Such a great premise. Lacking in execution. My main issue was the plot. I still don't know what, exactly, this was about. It's called "Seeking the Storyteller", so I suppose the storyteller is the main plot, but what about finding Xaver's killer? Or fighting this war? Or dealing with all these demons they main group is suddenly housing? And let's not forget learning about Alix's tragic past. Of, and Cyn's, too! The plot was everywhere, and at times hard to follow. It didn't really all come together in the end, either. At least not well.
Then there was all the information thrown at us. It was a lot of telling and not showing. Telling me someone had a scowl on their face and was therefore angry or upset. I don't need that. I know they are angry or upset because they are scowling. I can tell when Alix is angry because he is yelling, I don't need the narrator to tell me. And with Mira, you have a great chance to use her ears to express her emotions, and for the most part it's used that way, but again, it's elaborated to telling us what her ears plastered against her head means. There was a lot of that throughout the book, and it was very hard for me to get through because of that.
On the subject of Mira, how old is she? She is described as a "young woman", yet her mannerisms and way of speaking suggest she is merely a child. I wouldn't mind so much, except she keeps flirting with other characters and is looked at in romantic ways and since I visualized her around eight years old, this was very creepy and confusing.
I also feel as if the authors kind of took everything people on tumblr say they want in a book (someone who isn't heterosexual, but isn't bound by that fact, a genderqueer character, demons, magic, other worlds, war, cat girls, you name it, really) and just shoved it into one story. It made for a mess of characters with clunky and just downright boring dialogue. Okay, Alix is really Alixandre who lost her fiancee and unborn child and is now hunting demons because of that, but masquerades as a man, Alix, just because people take him more seriously that way. Fine, I'm cool with that. Sure, Katalynn flirts with Fagan all day long, but what she really wants is to go out with that hot bartender she saw the other night. That's cool, too. Oh and Cyn is a goth because she couldn't stand her father experimenting on her. And Mira is part fox, with Zach hitting on her because she's a cute cat-girl. Okay...? It just didn't work together.
I love the idea, though. Trying to find the writer of your life, your "story", to change something you didn't like. It's a wonderful idea, I just think with the addition of war, demons, and whatever was going on in this book made it a big mess. Really, it has great potential, but needs a lot of work.
(Rounding up because I do like to support new authors)
HEADS UP SPOILERS AHEAD
So much potential. Such a great premise. Lacking in execution. My main issue was the plot. I still don't know what, exactly, this was about. It's called "Seeking the Storyteller", so I suppose the storyteller is the main plot, but what about finding Xaver's killer? Or fighting this war? Or dealing with all these demons they main group is suddenly housing? And let's not forget learning about Alix's tragic past. Of, and Cyn's, too! The plot was everywhere, and at times hard to follow. It didn't really all come together in the end, either. At least not well.
Then there was all the information thrown at us. It was a lot of telling and not showing. Telling me someone had a scowl on their face and was therefore angry or upset. I don't need that. I know they are angry or upset because they are scowling. I can tell when Alix is angry because he is yelling, I don't need the narrator to tell me. And with Mira, you have a great chance to use her ears to express her emotions, and for the most part it's used that way, but again, it's elaborated to telling us what her ears plastered against her head means. There was a lot of that throughout the book, and it was very hard for me to get through because of that.
On the subject of Mira, how old is she? She is described as a "young woman", yet her mannerisms and way of speaking suggest she is merely a child. I wouldn't mind so much, except she keeps flirting with other characters and is looked at in romantic ways and since I visualized her around eight years old, this was very creepy and confusing.
I also feel as if the authors kind of took everything people on tumblr say they want in a book (someone who isn't heterosexual, but isn't bound by that fact, a genderqueer character, demons, magic, other worlds, war, cat girls, you name it, really) and just shoved it into one story. It made for a mess of characters with clunky and just downright boring dialogue. Okay, Alix is really Alixandre who lost her fiancee and unborn child and is now hunting demons because of that, but masquerades as a man, Alix, just because people take him more seriously that way. Fine, I'm cool with that. Sure, Katalynn flirts with Fagan all day long, but what she really wants is to go out with that hot bartender she saw the other night. That's cool, too. Oh and Cyn is a goth because she couldn't stand her father experimenting on her. And Mira is part fox, with Zach hitting on her because she's a cute cat-girl. Okay...? It just didn't work together.
I love the idea, though. Trying to find the writer of your life, your "story", to change something you didn't like. It's a wonderful idea, I just think with the addition of war, demons, and whatever was going on in this book made it a big mess. Really, it has great potential, but needs a lot of work.