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A review by looseleafellie
Morium by S.J. Hermann
3.0
My feelings about this book are mixed. There were some things I loved, and some things I didn't like so much.
First of all, I feel like Morium could have used some better editing. Even though the author appears to have a wonderful way with words, there were several typos and grammar mistakes that I felt distracted from the story. Also, the book insisted on using every dialog tag other than 'said' -- quipped, hissed, stated, growled, spat, etc. Ideally, for me at least, dialog tags should be restricted to 'said' and 'asked', with the occasional 'replied', 'whispered', or 'shouted'. Anything else should be used very sparingly, otherwise the dialog tags get really distracting.
The other thing I didn't like was the ending. It just felt like it stopped in the middle of the story -- the bad guy still hasn't been defeated, and there are loads of questions to be answered (is Renee inside Stacy now? Is there any hope for Nathan? Will Robert earn enough money at the Sweeny's cafe to pay the bills? Is Stacy a lesbian? Has Lexi really retained control of The Gift?). I mean, I understand that there have to be some loose ends to keep people reading, but there also has to be a satisfying ending. This ending was not satisfying.
Now, on to the things that I liked about Morium (save the best for last, amirite?). I felt like the characters were really strong and developed -- I especially liked Stacy's character, with her spunk and sarcasm. The story was immersive and fast-paced, and would have been perfect if it weren't for the choppy ending. This is the very definition of a page-turner.
But the thing I loved most of all was the thing that made this book different. The "Kids find an alien object in the middle of the woods and gain magical powers" plot has been done to death, but this book introduces a level of moral dilemma which makes it fresh and exciting. Also, it tackles the issue of bullying very well. Bullying does not end once you get out of middle school!
So, all things considered, Morium was a fairly good read. Will I read the next book in the series? Probably. Especially if it's on sale :P
First of all, I feel like Morium could have used some better editing. Even though the author appears to have a wonderful way with words, there were several typos and grammar mistakes that I felt distracted from the story. Also, the book insisted on using every dialog tag other than 'said' -- quipped, hissed, stated, growled, spat, etc. Ideally, for me at least, dialog tags should be restricted to 'said' and 'asked', with the occasional 'replied', 'whispered', or 'shouted'. Anything else should be used very sparingly, otherwise the dialog tags get really distracting.
The other thing I didn't like was the ending. It just felt like it stopped in the middle of the story -- the bad guy still hasn't been defeated, and there are loads of questions to be answered (is Renee inside Stacy now? Is there any hope for Nathan? Will Robert earn enough money at the Sweeny's cafe to pay the bills? Is Stacy a lesbian? Has Lexi really retained control of The Gift?). I mean, I understand that there have to be some loose ends to keep people reading, but there also has to be a satisfying ending. This ending was not satisfying.
Now, on to the things that I liked about Morium (save the best for last, amirite?). I felt like the characters were really strong and developed -- I especially liked Stacy's character, with her spunk and sarcasm. The story was immersive and fast-paced, and would have been perfect if it weren't for the choppy ending. This is the very definition of a page-turner.
But the thing I loved most of all was the thing that made this book different. The "Kids find an alien object in the middle of the woods and gain magical powers" plot has been done to death, but this book introduces a level of moral dilemma which makes it fresh and exciting. Also, it tackles the issue of bullying very well. Bullying does not end once you get out of middle school!
So, all things considered, Morium was a fairly good read. Will I read the next book in the series? Probably. Especially if it's on sale :P