sheregiauque 's review for:

The Lost Gate by Orson Scott Card
3.0

I received an advanced copy of The Lost Gate from Goodreads. Yay! So here is the review that was requested:

The book started out really great. It had an interesting premise and I thought the story had great potential - A boy who finds out he is a gatemage in a place where gatemages are immediately killed and he must somehow learn about his powers and survive, etc. I was excited and blew through the first couple of chapters.

Then, it just got really weird. The book went in a completely different direction from the beginning and Danny, the main character, turned into a bratty, selfish, unlikable, delinquent. I found it difficult to trudge through several chapters of him just being a jerk, basically.

And what is up with the sexual situations between a married woman and a little thirteen-year-old boy? Uncomfortable and unnecessary in a book like this.

When the story finally lined back up with its beginning, the book got much better. I enjoyed learning about gatemagery along with Danny. It turned into a fun book that held my attention.

I also really enjoyed the story of Wad that was interspersed throughout the book. It was well told and I found that I cared much more about Wad that I did about Danny.

I gave this book three stars, but I think if several chapters in the middle could be ripped out and forgotten, I would give it more.