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A review by lindsayb
Incarceron by Catherine Fisher
2.0
This was the absolute wrong book to try to test out whether I can listen to audiobooks. It was so complicated that even when I read along with the audio, which usually enhances my reading experience, I was still lost and had to page through to figure out what the heck was going on, who was speaking, what had happened the last time we heard from that character. The problem was enhanced by the reader, who made half the voices sound exactly alike with grating English accents and didn't often keep with the tone the author specified. I would have scrapped it, but when I tried reading it without audio, I kept falling asleep. I just couldn't get interested. I really liked Claudia's story at the beginning, but I didn't care for how frequently the narration switched between Finn and Claudia. It was dizzying. It got even more confusing when various characters were separated from there and the narration further branched. All the twists and turns were convenient, and the world-building was so complex that it left little room for speculation apart from it drawing on a traditional plotline. I readily got into the mindset of being passive and waiting for what crazy turn Fisher would conveniently throw in, and it soon fell into the cheap sort of hook of ending every single chapter or narration switch with a cliff hanger...to the point I had to bring this around again: "Duhn-duhn-DUHHHHN!" at each switcharoo.
Ultimately, this immediately struck me as a less compelling, more complicated version of Seraphina, or should I say, Seraphina was a more compelling, less complicated version of Incarceron. I don't doubt that there are plenty of people who didn't get as caught up in the details as I did, and who knows, had I read it under different circumstances and with more time to mull it over (it is assigned for my Teen Library Materials class, so that doesn't leave much room for taking one's time), I would have liked it better. I see most of my friends who've read it have rated it highly, so I'll just own up to missing something big on this.
Ultimately, this immediately struck me as a less compelling, more complicated version of Seraphina, or should I say, Seraphina was a more compelling, less complicated version of Incarceron. I don't doubt that there are plenty of people who didn't get as caught up in the details as I did, and who knows, had I read it under different circumstances and with more time to mull it over (it is assigned for my Teen Library Materials class, so that doesn't leave much room for taking one's time), I would have liked it better. I see most of my friends who've read it have rated it highly, so I'll just own up to missing something big on this.