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A review by anniemariek
Such Wicked Intent by Kenneth Oppel
4.0
Once again, I've come to the point where all I want to do is sit here and rant about how much I wish I could write books like Kenneth Oppel. Though This Wicked Intent did not have as much of an effect on me as the Matt Cruse series or This Dark Endeavor, it was certainly an excellent book.
I like the way Kenneth Oppel writes. He doesn't use flashy, flowery, gorgeous prose. It's not something you immediately look at and say "Wow, that's beautiferific!" (In this situation, "beautiful seemed inadequate, and "terrific" just wouldn't do. And so, "beautiferific".) It's not until after you read the book that you realize that, wait, somebody wrote that. Somebody wrote this book and used nothing more than words to tell the story. Everything was so clear and defined in your head that somehow the narration, in a way, ceased to exist.
I want to be able to accomplish this marvelous feat.
This book makes me look forward to reading Frankenstein later this year in my British Literature class. If you don't already know, this series is a prequel, of sorts, to Frankenstein. The Victor Frankenstein in this book is, well, THE Victor Frankenstein.
Because of this prequel-ness, I pretty much knew ahead of time that this book couldn't have a happy ending. That didn't make it any easier to deal with. I won't spoil it, but...
Victor's disappointment made me sad. It really did. And here lies the heart of the paradox that is Victor. He's not very likable. He's greedy and arrogant and selfish and does some pretty nasty things. He's an antihero.
And yet...I wanted him to succeed. I don't know whether or not I actually liked him, but I felt for him. I was sad when he was sad. Kenneth Oppel had a very difficult character to work with, because he was such an antihero and was pretty much already defined. But Oppel worked with it, and he did a great job with it.
Overall, I recommend this series. Recommended for fans of historical fiction with a sci-fi and/or paranormal twist, or readers looking for something a bit darker and thought-provoking. Four stars!
I like the way Kenneth Oppel writes. He doesn't use flashy, flowery, gorgeous prose. It's not something you immediately look at and say "Wow, that's beautiferific!" (In this situation, "beautiful seemed inadequate, and "terrific" just wouldn't do. And so, "beautiferific".) It's not until after you read the book that you realize that, wait, somebody wrote that. Somebody wrote this book and used nothing more than words to tell the story. Everything was so clear and defined in your head that somehow the narration, in a way, ceased to exist.
I want to be able to accomplish this marvelous feat.
This book makes me look forward to reading Frankenstein later this year in my British Literature class. If you don't already know, this series is a prequel, of sorts, to Frankenstein. The Victor Frankenstein in this book is, well, THE Victor Frankenstein.
Because of this prequel-ness, I pretty much knew ahead of time that this book couldn't have a happy ending. That didn't make it any easier to deal with. I won't spoil it, but...
Victor's disappointment made me sad. It really did. And here lies the heart of the paradox that is Victor. He's not very likable. He's greedy and arrogant and selfish and does some pretty nasty things. He's an antihero.
And yet...I wanted him to succeed. I don't know whether or not I actually liked him, but I felt for him. I was sad when he was sad. Kenneth Oppel had a very difficult character to work with, because he was such an antihero and was pretty much already defined. But Oppel worked with it, and he did a great job with it.
Overall, I recommend this series. Recommended for fans of historical fiction with a sci-fi and/or paranormal twist, or readers looking for something a bit darker and thought-provoking. Four stars!