Squint your eyes and look closer...
...I'm not between you and your ambition." Shuffle on the music playlist makes me happy. Except for when my fancy smart phone skips songs it perfectly well *does* have in its tiny but complex computer brain but refuses to play... then the technology makes me irritated. First world problems, indeed.
So I promised to put up a review of Robin McKinley's "Shadows," keeping in mind that I don't review so much as I gush. Happy-fluffy-fun-times with books, remember? So I thought I'd just do this now, while I'm messing with my technology that is refusing to work properly.
Slight possible spoilers, although I will try to keep them to a minimum, Still, you have been warned. Also, spoiler, I love this book.
Maggie, the 17 year old protagonist, starts out telling us "I hated my stepfather." And the world she lives in is a morphed version of ours - it was the same at one point, but now all the regions are called "New World," "Old World," "Far World," etc, and some parts use magic, but New World (North America, as far as is stated) has found a technological way to cut the magic gene from people, and is fighting the supernatural forces that threaten the entire planet with tech instead. New World has declared magic unsafe, unstable, and liable to cause madness, and let's not think about it too hard just call the authorities for help when something bad happens. So when Maggie senses something strange about her new, foreign stepfather, she tries to deny that it's happening, and resents and despises him for being who and what he is. Except she doesn't know what that is, or what it means. Also, senior year is starting and she has troubles enough.
McKinley is really great at capturing a character's voice, and she did a fantastic job with the teen aspect of the character, too. I fell into this book very easily and devoured it, desperate to know what happened next. The danger is immediate, the confusion and twists and tension keep the pages turning. The characters make this story. Well, for me, that's usually true. And McKinley is deft at giving the reader characters you can't look away from and want to read more and more about. I think this is why people always ask her for sequels, much to her dismay. It's because we fell in love and are greedy for more. Well, I am, anyway. But I know better than to ask for sequels. I just hope for more stories, and clap my hands like a demented child when I get some. And also buy them. That part is important.
Back to the review portion of this gushing. The only mild thing that ever threw me out was some of the slang. I really love the slang in "Sunshine," and it worked for me. I love a lot of the slang in this book, too. But some of them didn't work for me. I don't think that will be true for everyone. Perhaps I'm too old for the slang now. How sad. Or maybe some word sounds just make me twitch, and she just used some of them. Ah, well. The only other thing I could say as a critique, is that the ending felt rushed. I see what she was doing, and I can even understand and agree with why. But it felt like the last 10 or 15 pages wrapped up so very much, and we didn't get to see it happen. I know why we didn't, I can even agree with why we didn't. But it did still feel like I was missing out on something. I like open-ended endings, and it doesn't make me not want to read this again, and it doesn't ruin the book for me. Just felt like all this tension was dropped away, and things were resolved, and we were just starting to feel that happy relief - done. So I will warn those of you who find open-ended endings difficult, that while I still think you should buy and read this book - prepare yourselves. Breathe. Slow down reading the end, because if you're like me and you're just tearing it up reading through, then it might behoove you (me) to slow down and enjoy it.
...I'm feeling like I can't do anything more thorough with this review without spoiling it all! I am not deft, sadly, when it comes to reviews. But the news is that I love it! It's good! Go read it! I don't think it breaks into the top 5 of McKinley books for me personally, but it's really very good. I think you'll like it. I would like to support her writing more stories, so I can continue to clap like a demented child whenever one comes out.
So I promised to put up a review of Robin McKinley's "Shadows," keeping in mind that I don't review so much as I gush. Happy-fluffy-fun-times with books, remember? So I thought I'd just do this now, while I'm messing with my technology that is refusing to work properly.
Slight possible spoilers, although I will try to keep them to a minimum, Still, you have been warned. Also, spoiler, I love this book.
Maggie, the 17 year old protagonist, starts out telling us "I hated my stepfather." And the world she lives in is a morphed version of ours - it was the same at one point, but now all the regions are called "New World," "Old World," "Far World," etc, and some parts use magic, but New World (North America, as far as is stated) has found a technological way to cut the magic gene from people, and is fighting the supernatural forces that threaten the entire planet with tech instead. New World has declared magic unsafe, unstable, and liable to cause madness, and let's not think about it too hard just call the authorities for help when something bad happens. So when Maggie senses something strange about her new, foreign stepfather, she tries to deny that it's happening, and resents and despises him for being who and what he is. Except she doesn't know what that is, or what it means. Also, senior year is starting and she has troubles enough.
McKinley is really great at capturing a character's voice, and she did a fantastic job with the teen aspect of the character, too. I fell into this book very easily and devoured it, desperate to know what happened next. The danger is immediate, the confusion and twists and tension keep the pages turning. The characters make this story. Well, for me, that's usually true. And McKinley is deft at giving the reader characters you can't look away from and want to read more and more about. I think this is why people always ask her for sequels, much to her dismay. It's because we fell in love and are greedy for more. Well, I am, anyway. But I know better than to ask for sequels. I just hope for more stories, and clap my hands like a demented child when I get some. And also buy them. That part is important.
Back to the review portion of this gushing. The only mild thing that ever threw me out was some of the slang. I really love the slang in "Sunshine," and it worked for me. I love a lot of the slang in this book, too. But some of them didn't work for me. I don't think that will be true for everyone. Perhaps I'm too old for the slang now. How sad. Or maybe some word sounds just make me twitch, and she just used some of them. Ah, well. The only other thing I could say as a critique, is that the ending felt rushed. I see what she was doing, and I can even understand and agree with why. But it felt like the last 10 or 15 pages wrapped up so very much, and we didn't get to see it happen. I know why we didn't, I can even agree with why we didn't. But it did still feel like I was missing out on something. I like open-ended endings, and it doesn't make me not want to read this again, and it doesn't ruin the book for me. Just felt like all this tension was dropped away, and things were resolved, and we were just starting to feel that happy relief - done. So I will warn those of you who find open-ended endings difficult, that while I still think you should buy and read this book - prepare yourselves. Breathe. Slow down reading the end, because if you're like me and you're just tearing it up reading through, then it might behoove you (me) to slow down and enjoy it.
...I'm feeling like I can't do anything more thorough with this review without spoiling it all! I am not deft, sadly, when it comes to reviews. But the news is that I love it! It's good! Go read it! I don't think it breaks into the top 5 of McKinley books for me personally, but it's really very good. I think you'll like it. I would like to support her writing more stories, so I can continue to clap like a demented child whenever one comes out.