My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This book gets big credit for tackling the subject matter of an unfamiliar fairytale. That fact alone cemented my resolve in buying this book. Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy this as much as Stitching Snow.
There is a lot more in terms of science in this book concerning the lead, Liddi Jantzen, and her family. I liked Liddi and her near crippling anxiety about her destiny as part of a family of technical geniuses. She had a lot to live up to but at the same time, she wanted to make something of herself.
Her story is familiar, the same struggle of finding who you are in a big family and how you fit in but stand apart, but the best part about her was her devotion to her older brothers and their devotion to her. Liddi was determined to do whatever it took to save her brothers and it was an admirable trait in the end. In addition, their work at protecting Liddi when they could despite their situation spoke volumes about the stable family unit they worked to be. I wish Lewis had added more scenes with Liddi and her brothers so that the reader could become more familiar with who each brother was and be able to tell them apart better.
The biggest drawback was the characterization of the villain. The book reveals the villain quickly and gives the motivation for what serves as one of the major conflicts of the book. However, things are left at that, just simply stated that the villain is crazy or obsessed and determined to follow through on their dastardly plot. And then the villain is widely removed from the central storyline for almost the entirety of the book. I didn't feel enough tension with the villain and Liddi. It almost felt as if the villain could have been done away with completely and the book would have still had the majority of its content remain intact.
In the end though, I read this book quickly. It dragged the slightest bit in the middle but it's not that much of a detraction. I hope Lewis continues with her fairytale adaptations and also manages to surprise readers again with another tale inspired by a not so common fairytale.
Rating on my scale of 1 to 10 Stars: 6.5 Stars
No comments:
Post a Comment