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A review by angek98
Taronga by Victor Kelleher
3.0
The disengaged high school students calling this 'the worst book ever' are wrong. I can think of a lot more books worse off than this one, though I guess that's just what happens when you assign a book for school where no one can really... relate to it.
I'll come back to that later.
Here are the merits of this book.
●Excellent writing.
●One of the first YA dystopians
●Themes of humanity, environment, and survival
Kelleher can write. He has a knack for description. But description can't hold a novel up on its own.
Here are the demerits
●Undeveloped context/background
●Unrelatable characters
●Repititive plot progression.
Ben is a forgettable character. He barely has a personality, he's someone that everyone can relate to, therefore no one can. The antagonists don't have any goals that are explained to us, and the reader is left in the dark in almost anything. What are the Last Days? Why does Ben have this ability to call? I was asking myself 'why?' a lot, and often with no answer.
I'll come back to that later.
Here are the merits of this book.
●Excellent writing.
●One of the first YA dystopians
●Themes of humanity, environment, and survival
Kelleher can write. He has a knack for description. But description can't hold a novel up on its own.
Here are the demerits
●Undeveloped context/background
●Unrelatable characters
●Repititive plot progression.
Ben is a forgettable character. He barely has a personality, he's someone that everyone can relate to, therefore no one can. The antagonists don't have any goals that are explained to us, and the reader is left in the dark in almost anything. What are the Last Days? Why does Ben have this ability to call? I was asking myself 'why?' a lot, and often with no answer.