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kthebookwyrm 's review for:
Middlegame
by Seanan McGuire
This story was a solid, enjoyable 4 star read. Issues with pacing and a lackluster villain ultimately held this story back from crossing into 5 star territory. On to the review!
This was a wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey story and so occasionally was hard to keep track of. Sorting out my thoughts on this book is likewise a bit tricky, so I'm going to work through the 3 main things I think about when evaluating a book.
Worldbuilding/Plot:
The premise was very cool, with bits of Frankenstein and Oz mixed in with the mysteries of alchemy. The flashforwards (or backwards, or sidways, because like I said timey-wimey) were great because they helped maintain tension when there wasn't a whole lot going on in the main timeline. Plus, they were a clue to the underlying principal of the story.
Characters:
There were 4 (technically 5, but honestly Mr. Reed has very little presence in the story) main characters and I felt like they were all done well enough. Leigh is appropriately creepy and Erin is a bit of an enigma, even now. Roger and Dodger had a complicated relationship, best described as a paradox. Hats off to Seanan McGuire for creating such a complex pair of magical siblings.
Magic System:
Honestly, I couldn't always keep up with the rules of the magical science? used in this story, but it created a fun puzzle to try to figure out at the end, while all the action and excitement is going on. That for me is enough. I like hard magic systems that are all laid out, but it's not a requirement. I didn't feel like anything was deus ex machina'd in at the end so I'm satisfied.
Spoilers below!
Mr. Reed was a very disappointing villain, if you want to call him that. His entire contribution throughout the story was "Nope, leave them alone. We'll just wait and see how they develop." And then he "wait and see'd" himself to death. Good job guy. I like my villains and antagonists to be more of a driving force in the narrative and Mr. Reed was way too passive, especially for a character everyone seemed to be so afraid of.
Leigh was creepy and I was actually rather sad she didn't get utilized until the tail end of the story. I really wanted to see her take Mr. Reed apart, after all of his "stay in your place" shit. Also, the imagery of crows wings beneath her ribs was beautiful. It makes me want to commission an artist to create an illustration of it.
This was a wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey story and so occasionally was hard to keep track of. Sorting out my thoughts on this book is likewise a bit tricky, so I'm going to work through the 3 main things I think about when evaluating a book.
Worldbuilding/Plot:
The premise was very cool, with bits of Frankenstein and Oz mixed in with the mysteries of alchemy. The flashforwards (or backwards, or sidways, because like I said timey-wimey) were great because they helped maintain tension when there wasn't a whole lot going on in the main timeline. Plus, they were a clue to the underlying principal of the story.
Characters:
There were 4 (technically 5, but honestly Mr. Reed has very little presence in the story) main characters and I felt like they were all done well enough. Leigh is appropriately creepy and Erin is a bit of an enigma, even now. Roger and Dodger had a complicated relationship, best described as a paradox. Hats off to Seanan McGuire for creating such a complex pair of magical siblings.
Magic System:
Honestly, I couldn't always keep up with the rules of the magical science? used in this story, but it created a fun puzzle to try to figure out at the end, while all the action and excitement is going on. That for me is enough. I like hard magic systems that are all laid out, but it's not a requirement. I didn't feel like anything was deus ex machina'd in at the end so I'm satisfied.
Spoilers below!
Mr. Reed was a very disappointing villain, if you want to call him that. His entire contribution throughout the story was "Nope, leave them alone. We'll just wait and see how they develop." And then he "wait and see'd" himself to death. Good job guy. I like my villains and antagonists to be more of a driving force in the narrative and Mr. Reed was way too passive, especially for a character everyone seemed to be so afraid of.
Leigh was creepy and I was actually rather sad she didn't get utilized until the tail end of the story. I really wanted to see her take Mr. Reed apart, after all of his "stay in your place" shit. Also, the imagery of crows wings beneath her ribs was beautiful. It makes me want to commission an artist to create an illustration of it.