Take a photo of a barcode or cover
streetwrites's reviews
254 reviews
Last Descendants by Matthew J. Kirby
3.0
I wasn't entirely sold on the concept of a YA Assassin's Creed series. It was hard to see how a game series that has built itself so solidly on a particular formula could expand to include younger characters as leads. But, for the most part, I was pleasantly surprised by Kirby's direction and the history that unfolded within the pages of the first Last Descendants novel. I enjoyed being transported to the 1863 New York City draft riots, which I admittedly did not know much about until I started doing some outside research while reading this book. One that that Ubisoft excels at with the Assassin's Creed franchise is bringing history stunningly to life (even if some of the details are sketchy, they fill them in or adapt them quite nicely). The scenes and imagery were vividly detailed, and Kirby managed to pull off a story told from six different perspectives (which, for a 300-page book, is no easy feat).
Character development is up and down. The two characters that are set up as our principal leads actually don't grow or develop very much at all, which is a bit disappointing. There is a huge revelation about one of them, but it's a bit of a quick throwaway at the end, and is afforded virtually no setup or foreshadowing prior to the audience learning about it. Two characters that really shine for me are wheelchair-bound Sean, who struggles to be seen as a normal kid in spite of his disability, and protective big sister Grace, who finds an inner strength during the simulation that helps inform her real-world actions later (also, I feel she's going to end up being a total badass).
Structurally, a couple things were problematic for me. The story wastes absolutely no time with exposition in the beginning, opting instead to toss one of our leads, Owen, straight into the mix of things. His goal is to seek out a man named Monroe who, it is later revealed, works as an IT at his high school, in order to use the Animus (a machine familiar to us Assassin's Creed vets) so that he can go into his genetic memories and help exonerate his father for a crime that Owen does not believe he committed (and for which he was imprisoned). Owen's father died in prison, so that helps ground his motivations. Monroe asks an estranged friend named Javier to tag along with him, despite the fact that the pair have barely spoken to each other for quite some time. All of that sounds like a pretty good setup, no?
Well, you can throw it all away. Because less than a tenth of the way into the book, we pretty much forget all about that stuff. By then, Owen and Javier seem to be functional friends again, and Owen all but forgets his original mission to exonerate his dad, opting instead to help Monroe and a team of other teens descend into the Animus in order to locate a Piece of Eden (also familiar to those of us who have played the games).
By the end of the team's adventures on the streets of Civil War-era New York (a fun romp though it was) I was left wondering why the whole thing was even necessary. The whole point of the group going into the simulation was supposed to be to discern the location of the Piece of Eden (which ended up being somewhere that they probably could have made an educated guess on and just sought it out quietly before the secretly warring factions of the Assassins and Templars could get to it instead).
It makes me wonder if the larger ramifications and implications of Monroe's decisions remain to be seen. Overall, I'd say this book deserves more than the 3 stars I'm giving it PROVIDED you are an established Assassin's Creed fan, which would suggest you don't need much introduction and exposition when it comes to orienting yourself with the world. But, as it is, the book is not one I'd recommend for AC newbies.
Some things, such as the relationship between Assassins and Templars, the way the Animus operates, the Bleeding effect, Eagle Vision, and genetic memories are explained. Other things, such as the Assassin's creed itself, are omitted from exposition. It remains to be seen whether or not these things will ever be revealed in future books.
Character development is up and down. The two characters that are set up as our principal leads actually don't grow or develop very much at all, which is a bit disappointing. There is a huge revelation about one of them, but it's a bit of a quick throwaway at the end, and is afforded virtually no setup or foreshadowing prior to the audience learning about it. Two characters that really shine for me are wheelchair-bound Sean, who struggles to be seen as a normal kid in spite of his disability, and protective big sister Grace, who finds an inner strength during the simulation that helps inform her real-world actions later (also, I feel she's going to end up being a total badass).
Structurally, a couple things were problematic for me. The story wastes absolutely no time with exposition in the beginning, opting instead to toss one of our leads, Owen, straight into the mix of things. His goal is to seek out a man named Monroe who, it is later revealed, works as an IT at his high school, in order to use the Animus (a machine familiar to us Assassin's Creed vets) so that he can go into his genetic memories and help exonerate his father for a crime that Owen does not believe he committed (and for which he was imprisoned). Owen's father died in prison, so that helps ground his motivations. Monroe asks an estranged friend named Javier to tag along with him, despite the fact that the pair have barely spoken to each other for quite some time. All of that sounds like a pretty good setup, no?
Well, you can throw it all away. Because less than a tenth of the way into the book, we pretty much forget all about that stuff. By then, Owen and Javier seem to be functional friends again, and Owen all but forgets his original mission to exonerate his dad, opting instead to help Monroe and a team of other teens descend into the Animus in order to locate a Piece of Eden (also familiar to those of us who have played the games).
By the end of the team's adventures on the streets of Civil War-era New York (a fun romp though it was) I was left wondering why the whole thing was even necessary. The whole point of the group going into the simulation was supposed to be to discern the location of the Piece of Eden (which ended up being somewhere that they probably could have made an educated guess on and just sought it out quietly before the secretly warring factions of the Assassins and Templars could get to it instead).
It makes me wonder if the larger ramifications and implications of Monroe's decisions remain to be seen. Overall, I'd say this book deserves more than the 3 stars I'm giving it PROVIDED you are an established Assassin's Creed fan, which would suggest you don't need much introduction and exposition when it comes to orienting yourself with the world. But, as it is, the book is not one I'd recommend for AC newbies.
Some things, such as the relationship between Assassins and Templars, the way the Animus operates, the Bleeding effect, Eagle Vision, and genetic memories are explained. Other things, such as the Assassin's creed itself, are omitted from exposition. It remains to be seen whether or not these things will ever be revealed in future books.
My Sister Rosa by Justine Larbalestier
4.0
This book was SO CLOSE to being a five-star read. I read this one after seeing that another author I follow, Adam Silvera, was reading and raving about it on his social media. After checking the description, I knew it sounded like a book I wouldn't be able to put down. I was not disappointed! (Except for the fact that the first copy I ordered from Amazon showed up with a torn dust jacket and I had to send it back and wait for a new copy...but I digress...)
The most refreshing thing about this book was that, with one tiny exception, it broke almost every annoying trope that plagues YA fiction these days. Pretty, brunette, vulnerable female voice with emotional baggage, a disdain for prettier girls, and a penchant for growing into a sassy bad-ass, who falls for a stoically handsome, strong boy who will sweep her off her feet in spite of herself? Oh, but there's also a love triangle/square/pentagon/hexagon? NONE of that in this book, thank you very much. This is the second book of 2016 for me with a strong, relatable male voice. And although there is a love story, it is told in such a natural, realistic way that it is the farthest thing from annoying (in fact, it's quite endearing in that it's real and conjures familiarity).
Let's discuss the horror aspect. You'll learn right away (from the jacket synopsis and the early chapters) that Che (the main character, named for revolutionary Che Guevara) fully believes that his sister, Rosa, is a psychopath trapped in a ten-year-old's body. It is not a spoiler for me to tell you that it takes virtually no time for the author to thoroughly convince you of the same thing. Rosa is a brash, uncaring, unfeeling, unsettling little human being. Like Che, I experienced the sensation of the hairs on the back of my neck standing up on several occasions. That's part of the real lure of this story...you're always waiting, wondering, anxious to see what Rosa will do next.
There's such an interesting dynamic between Che and Rosa. He is terrified of her, but he also reasons that she is family, and he accepts the fact that he is one of the only people who can level with her. The scenes where he asks her to make promises to him about her future behavior are particularly unsettling, because Rosa is riding a fine line of questioning her own morality and finding loopholes in her agreements with her brother to do pretty much whatever the hell she wants.
While Che struggles with being, more or less, a third parent to Rosa (as their own parents seem too preoccupied with their business to really notice or care for their kids), he's also dealing with the very real struggles of growing up as a young man in a new city. Che is a boxer, and he very quickly finds solace and escape from his home life at a local gym (where there are, refreshingly for him, more female boxers than male boxers, training with a hardcore female boxing coach). There, he meets Sojourner and becomes utterly infatuated with her. I won't spoil what transpires between the two of them, but I will tell you that their relationship helps this book score pretty highly with me. It is not your typical, doe-eyed, perfection-laced romp where the boy and the girl know they are meant for each other. It is a raw and REAL romp, where the author's depiction of Che's raging hormones and desires will feel reminiscent and relatable to readers.
Che also finds his way into a very diverse friend group. It was so refreshing to experience the world of New York through Che's eyes, and to have a character accept friendships from people of a wide variety of backgrounds, without making weird commentaries on how strange or exotic their skin colors or lifestyles are. Che just accepts them as they are the most normal thing, which is a nice change of gears for the genre, and I hope it's a trend that's here to stay.
Admittedly, the first 50 or so pages are a bit slow, because it does take some time to set everything up. But it's a bit like a good horror movie...it does take that first act or so to really get you into the story. The time is well spent because Che's interactions with Rosa, and Rosa's subsequent interactions with the world and people around her, create an excellent atmosphere of suspense and dread. Rosa is always lurking on the periphery of Che's life, threatening to jump up (sometimes literally) and almost any moment and throw the plot for a loop. That's the real magic of this book: you literally never know where or when or what she'll be...and it makes everything unpredictable. The climactic final act of the book left me breathless and stunned, and introduced a very subtle twist that, as the scene and the revelations unfolded, gave me rolling chills because I didn't see it until THAT MOMENT. The evidence had been there all along, and I totally missed it. It was so terrifying, yet utterly satisfying.
I said it was ALMOST a five-star read. I'm giving it four because, for me, the ending was a bit unsatisfying. Realistic, perhaps, but I guess I really just wanted some other kind of resolution. Obviously, I won't say much more for fear of spoiling it. Don't let this part of the review deter you from reading it. I think a lot of people will relate well to the ending. Others, people of a certain taste for horror, may not. Either way, it's truly the journey of this book that is so rewarding and satisfying, rather than the payoff of the ending. Larbalestier crafts a fine tale of intrigue, coming of age, diversity, mystery, and the sheer terror of a very real problem in our society. This is the second book I've read this year that deals with mental illness (albeit much more subtly than Hannah Hart's memoir). You learn things right alongside Che, and as you do, you find yourself equally as disturbed about Rosa as he is.
This is definitely in my Top 3 favorites of 2016. Check it out!
The most refreshing thing about this book was that, with one tiny exception, it broke almost every annoying trope that plagues YA fiction these days. Pretty, brunette, vulnerable female voice with emotional baggage, a disdain for prettier girls, and a penchant for growing into a sassy bad-ass, who falls for a stoically handsome, strong boy who will sweep her off her feet in spite of herself? Oh, but there's also a love triangle/square/pentagon/hexagon? NONE of that in this book, thank you very much. This is the second book of 2016 for me with a strong, relatable male voice. And although there is a love story, it is told in such a natural, realistic way that it is the farthest thing from annoying (in fact, it's quite endearing in that it's real and conjures familiarity).
Let's discuss the horror aspect. You'll learn right away (from the jacket synopsis and the early chapters) that Che (the main character, named for revolutionary Che Guevara) fully believes that his sister, Rosa, is a psychopath trapped in a ten-year-old's body. It is not a spoiler for me to tell you that it takes virtually no time for the author to thoroughly convince you of the same thing. Rosa is a brash, uncaring, unfeeling, unsettling little human being. Like Che, I experienced the sensation of the hairs on the back of my neck standing up on several occasions. That's part of the real lure of this story...you're always waiting, wondering, anxious to see what Rosa will do next.
There's such an interesting dynamic between Che and Rosa. He is terrified of her, but he also reasons that she is family, and he accepts the fact that he is one of the only people who can level with her. The scenes where he asks her to make promises to him about her future behavior are particularly unsettling, because Rosa is riding a fine line of questioning her own morality and finding loopholes in her agreements with her brother to do pretty much whatever the hell she wants.
While Che struggles with being, more or less, a third parent to Rosa (as their own parents seem too preoccupied with their business to really notice or care for their kids), he's also dealing with the very real struggles of growing up as a young man in a new city. Che is a boxer, and he very quickly finds solace and escape from his home life at a local gym (where there are, refreshingly for him, more female boxers than male boxers, training with a hardcore female boxing coach). There, he meets Sojourner and becomes utterly infatuated with her. I won't spoil what transpires between the two of them, but I will tell you that their relationship helps this book score pretty highly with me. It is not your typical, doe-eyed, perfection-laced romp where the boy and the girl know they are meant for each other. It is a raw and REAL romp, where the author's depiction of Che's raging hormones and desires will feel reminiscent and relatable to readers.
Che also finds his way into a very diverse friend group. It was so refreshing to experience the world of New York through Che's eyes, and to have a character accept friendships from people of a wide variety of backgrounds, without making weird commentaries on how strange or exotic their skin colors or lifestyles are. Che just accepts them as they are the most normal thing, which is a nice change of gears for the genre, and I hope it's a trend that's here to stay.
Admittedly, the first 50 or so pages are a bit slow, because it does take some time to set everything up. But it's a bit like a good horror movie...it does take that first act or so to really get you into the story. The time is well spent because Che's interactions with Rosa, and Rosa's subsequent interactions with the world and people around her, create an excellent atmosphere of suspense and dread. Rosa is always lurking on the periphery of Che's life, threatening to jump up (sometimes literally) and almost any moment and throw the plot for a loop. That's the real magic of this book: you literally never know where or when or what she'll be...and it makes everything unpredictable. The climactic final act of the book left me breathless and stunned, and introduced a very subtle twist that, as the scene and the revelations unfolded, gave me rolling chills because I didn't see it until THAT MOMENT. The evidence had been there all along, and I totally missed it. It was so terrifying, yet utterly satisfying.
I said it was ALMOST a five-star read. I'm giving it four because, for me, the ending was a bit unsatisfying. Realistic, perhaps, but I guess I really just wanted some other kind of resolution. Obviously, I won't say much more for fear of spoiling it. Don't let this part of the review deter you from reading it. I think a lot of people will relate well to the ending. Others, people of a certain taste for horror, may not. Either way, it's truly the journey of this book that is so rewarding and satisfying, rather than the payoff of the ending. Larbalestier crafts a fine tale of intrigue, coming of age, diversity, mystery, and the sheer terror of a very real problem in our society. This is the second book I've read this year that deals with mental illness (albeit much more subtly than Hannah Hart's memoir). You learn things right alongside Che, and as you do, you find yourself equally as disturbed about Rosa as he is.
This is definitely in my Top 3 favorites of 2016. Check it out!
The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx
4.0
A fascinating and poignant read. There has been extensive debate over the decades as to whether or not Marx's philosophies could ever truly function in a modern society. I read this in 2006, during my freshman year at UT, in political science. Our discussions on the reading centered around whether or not the communist regimes up to this point (both extant and fallen) truly conformed to all of the tenets laid out in the manifesto. Some of us, myself included, argued that no communist power ever fully implemented a pure Marxist system and, as a result, all of those regimes were destined to fail.
It was possible, we argued, for a society to establish a Marxist set of ideals and policies and manage to thrive, flourish, grow, and do right by all of its people. It was also our argument that the freedom and prosperity we enjoy in the United States is anchored by socialist ideals and, with a few tweaks, we could truly make this the grandest and most happy nation on Earth. Since reading this ten years ago, I feel we have made some progress toward this kind of society. But whether we continue to make those strides depends wholly on the ebb and flow of politics and the bourgeoisie machine.
It was possible, we argued, for a society to establish a Marxist set of ideals and policies and manage to thrive, flourish, grow, and do right by all of its people. It was also our argument that the freedom and prosperity we enjoy in the United States is anchored by socialist ideals and, with a few tweaks, we could truly make this the grandest and most happy nation on Earth. Since reading this ten years ago, I feel we have made some progress toward this kind of society. But whether we continue to make those strides depends wholly on the ebb and flow of politics and the bourgeoisie machine.
I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore
4.0
This is the first book I've read in a long time that I have felt could be the opening of an AWESOME new series that everyone will love. The book contains flawless narrative that is both compelling and logically believable. The characters each convey their own set of emotions and each leaves an impact on the reader that makes the reader concerned for the outcome of ALL storylines, not just those involving the main protagonist. I would recommend this book to ANYONE looking to get into a new series and would also remind everyone that the film based on this novel will be released in February 2011!
Halo: The Fall of Reach by Eric S. Nylund
3.0
Excellent adaptation. Sometimes the writing was a little technical, but overall an average, decently-written novel. I love that the new Reach video game (released 9 years after this book, no less), seemed to follow tendencies set forth in this story. One of the biggest issues is a discrepancy in the time period/military dating of the novel, versus the original source material of the game. But all in all, a great book!
Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo
4.0
The second part of any trilogy is always tricky, but somehow, I find myself most drawn to the middle chapter. It was true with The Two Towers, and especially with The Empire Strikes Back. And it's true here, with Leigh Bardugo's second entry in the Grisha trilogy.
Maybe it's the doom and gloom that always seems to plague middle chapters, but I love the amount of character and plot development that seems to occur in these crucial moments. In Siege and Storm, we find Alina and Mal on the run after the events of Shadow and Bone. You almost want them to stay that way, but of course then we wouldn't have a story.
One of the highlights of Siege, for me, was meeting a couple of brand-new unforgettable characters. Sturmhond, Tamar, and Tolya were certainly bright points in this story and they constituted a nice breath of fresh air in a world that has already brought us some very cool characters as it is.
Alina's inner struggle in this story is extremely compelling. It's so unpredictable and, from early on, we are constantly wondering if she is going to crack or wind up giving in to the weight that is dragging her down. The books begins on a metaphorical mountain and gradually plunges (literally) to the depths of the earth by the end, when our heroes are once again left to ponder their futures and future of their country of Ravka.
I have read a lot of authors in a very short time span since mid-November, and I must say that Leigh Bardugo is easily one of the most talented masters of prose among them. Her storytelling is clear and concise and is always exciting. I love her development of our main character, Alina, in this series, and I love the way she handles Alina's inner struggles. She makes it so easy for us to empathize with her. Although we've never wrestled with the kind of power Alina wields, we can understand the motivations behind her decisions on how and when to use it.
In the end, the empathy aspect is important. It is the only thing that separates us from a desire to want to break rank with Alina. At her darkest moment, she makes some choices that would give most any reader pause. If it weren't for the fact that we've spent so much time in her head and that we know her true feelings and the desires of her heart, we might have already abandoned her and given up on her.
Let's just say that it's a good thing this story isn't told from someone else's perspective.
Maybe it's the doom and gloom that always seems to plague middle chapters, but I love the amount of character and plot development that seems to occur in these crucial moments. In Siege and Storm, we find Alina and Mal on the run after the events of Shadow and Bone. You almost want them to stay that way, but of course then we wouldn't have a story.
One of the highlights of Siege, for me, was meeting a couple of brand-new unforgettable characters. Sturmhond, Tamar, and Tolya were certainly bright points in this story and they constituted a nice breath of fresh air in a world that has already brought us some very cool characters as it is.
Alina's inner struggle in this story is extremely compelling. It's so unpredictable and, from early on, we are constantly wondering if she is going to crack or wind up giving in to the weight that is dragging her down. The books begins on a metaphorical mountain and gradually plunges (literally) to the depths of the earth by the end, when our heroes are once again left to ponder their futures and future of their country of Ravka.
I have read a lot of authors in a very short time span since mid-November, and I must say that Leigh Bardugo is easily one of the most talented masters of prose among them. Her storytelling is clear and concise and is always exciting. I love her development of our main character, Alina, in this series, and I love the way she handles Alina's inner struggles. She makes it so easy for us to empathize with her. Although we've never wrestled with the kind of power Alina wields, we can understand the motivations behind her decisions on how and when to use it.
In the end, the empathy aspect is important. It is the only thing that separates us from a desire to want to break rank with Alina. At her darkest moment, she makes some choices that would give most any reader pause. If it weren't for the fact that we've spent so much time in her head and that we know her true feelings and the desires of her heart, we might have already abandoned her and given up on her.
Let's just say that it's a good thing this story isn't told from someone else's perspective.
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
5.0
Oh man.
This book destroyed me in the best possible way. I don't even have the right words. I was in tears for the duration of the final fifty pages. It was cathartic in ways I've never experienced while reading words on a page. This might be middle-grade in name, but I think the themes, allegories and subject matter explored within will speak to anybody.
I feel a very special connection with his story because, in so many ways, it mirrored my experiences dealing with my grandmother's death at the hands of this evil, awful disease. I love that this story uses such a simple and recognizable trope (a common nightmare with a monster) to tackle such deep and complicated subject matter.
I devoured this book in one sitting, and yet I could really feel the toll the story was taking on our main character, given the amount of time that he had had to be strong for his mom. I was so very moved by the boy's interactions with the monster, and the lessons the monster had to teach him. The use of monsters as an allegory in the story was masterful and truly made this tale shine.
This one gets a full five stars, and is officially THE book I will recommend to anyone dealing with grief or the loss of a loved one to cancer in the future. Haunting and beautiful...I am so glad I went on this journey.
This book destroyed me in the best possible way. I don't even have the right words. I was in tears for the duration of the final fifty pages. It was cathartic in ways I've never experienced while reading words on a page. This might be middle-grade in name, but I think the themes, allegories and subject matter explored within will speak to anybody.
I feel a very special connection with his story because, in so many ways, it mirrored my experiences dealing with my grandmother's death at the hands of this evil, awful disease. I love that this story uses such a simple and recognizable trope (a common nightmare with a monster) to tackle such deep and complicated subject matter.
I devoured this book in one sitting, and yet I could really feel the toll the story was taking on our main character, given the amount of time that he had had to be strong for his mom. I was so very moved by the boy's interactions with the monster, and the lessons the monster had to teach him. The use of monsters as an allegory in the story was masterful and truly made this tale shine.
This one gets a full five stars, and is officially THE book I will recommend to anyone dealing with grief or the loss of a loved one to cancer in the future. Haunting and beautiful...I am so glad I went on this journey.
The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
3.0
All right, here it is: the honest truth. I didn't love it. It's one of only two books I read in 2016 that I seriously considered abandoning after a partial read (the other being Dance of the Red Death, which totally lost my interest midway).
BUT...after getting through approximately half the book, I will say that the allure of the overall situation experienced by the characters, and a few of the characters themselves, grew a bit. A mystery that I had picked up on concerning one of the characters in the beginning became clearer as time went on, and there was a nice "AHA!" moment with that character.
Gansey evolved into an extremely likable and relatable voice. In fact, in spite of this book not being my favorite this year, I do have to say that Gansey is perhaps my YA spirit animal. It's always nice to read yourself in fiction, and I definitely felt a kinship with him after diving more deeply into his personal life and his motivations. This book would have been a 2-star book had it not been for Gansey's character and the little development we got from it.
I thought Blue was fairly likable from the beginning, and had a very clear plot line, but lacked the actual forward motion that most novels utilize to move their characters toward a destination. In fact, I'd say that was my biggest struggle with this one: a lack of any real forward motion, story and characters arcs, or development at all. Essentially, it was a 400-page-long mystery novel with not a lot of setup and virtually zero resolution. We just kinda get thrown into the tale and, although we do get an idea of what some kind of resolution will look like, nothing even remotely resembling a resolution occurs at the end of this story. The presumed climax of the story happens with only a few pages left, and the denouement feels rushed and lands on the kind of cliffhanger that leaves your scratching your head out of annoyance and re-reading the last sentence again, and then turning pages thinking there is a print error (it really is that abrupt).
Generally in series that I've read, each volume has its own set of problems that are resolved by the end, while still contributing to a wider narrative that will take longer to conclude. However, it felt as though this first novel merely introduces all of the elements of the series and lacks a clear problem to solve for the first back (one could argue that a certain antagonistic character is that problem, but we barely see or hear from this character at all throughout the course of the book).
Technically speaking, I also had a bit of an issue with the prose. I've met Maggie Stiefvater in person, and listened to a few of her panels and presentations. She is a lovely, funny, charismatic person, but there's just something about her writing, especially in the early acts of the story, that didn't set well with me. Some of the descriptive text is clunky and unnecessary. While grammatically spot on, the actual content of some of the sections is entirely too wordy. In fact, I'd go as far as to say this book is easily 100 pages too long.
NOW, all of that sounds pretty negative, but I do have to say that I plan to continue this series. I'm intrigued enough with the setup to let some of the odd departures from structure and realistic development slide in favor of picking up the next book and continuing the narrative a bit. My hope is that character development will take a front seat in the next book...and let's maybe take the world-building and the clunky descriptive text and put those in the back for a while. We need some forward motion, some motivation, and some loose ends tied up (and some more backstory wouldn't kill us, either).
BUT...after getting through approximately half the book, I will say that the allure of the overall situation experienced by the characters, and a few of the characters themselves, grew a bit. A mystery that I had picked up on concerning one of the characters in the beginning became clearer as time went on, and there was a nice "AHA!" moment with that character.
Gansey evolved into an extremely likable and relatable voice. In fact, in spite of this book not being my favorite this year, I do have to say that Gansey is perhaps my YA spirit animal. It's always nice to read yourself in fiction, and I definitely felt a kinship with him after diving more deeply into his personal life and his motivations. This book would have been a 2-star book had it not been for Gansey's character and the little development we got from it.
I thought Blue was fairly likable from the beginning, and had a very clear plot line, but lacked the actual forward motion that most novels utilize to move their characters toward a destination. In fact, I'd say that was my biggest struggle with this one: a lack of any real forward motion, story and characters arcs, or development at all. Essentially, it was a 400-page-long mystery novel with not a lot of setup and virtually zero resolution. We just kinda get thrown into the tale and, although we do get an idea of what some kind of resolution will look like, nothing even remotely resembling a resolution occurs at the end of this story. The presumed climax of the story happens with only a few pages left, and the denouement feels rushed and lands on the kind of cliffhanger that leaves your scratching your head out of annoyance and re-reading the last sentence again, and then turning pages thinking there is a print error (it really is that abrupt).
Generally in series that I've read, each volume has its own set of problems that are resolved by the end, while still contributing to a wider narrative that will take longer to conclude. However, it felt as though this first novel merely introduces all of the elements of the series and lacks a clear problem to solve for the first back (one could argue that a certain antagonistic character is that problem, but we barely see or hear from this character at all throughout the course of the book).
Technically speaking, I also had a bit of an issue with the prose. I've met Maggie Stiefvater in person, and listened to a few of her panels and presentations. She is a lovely, funny, charismatic person, but there's just something about her writing, especially in the early acts of the story, that didn't set well with me. Some of the descriptive text is clunky and unnecessary. While grammatically spot on, the actual content of some of the sections is entirely too wordy. In fact, I'd go as far as to say this book is easily 100 pages too long.
NOW, all of that sounds pretty negative, but I do have to say that I plan to continue this series. I'm intrigued enough with the setup to let some of the odd departures from structure and realistic development slide in favor of picking up the next book and continuing the narrative a bit. My hope is that character development will take a front seat in the next book...and let's maybe take the world-building and the clunky descriptive text and put those in the back for a while. We need some forward motion, some motivation, and some loose ends tied up (and some more backstory wouldn't kill us, either).