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chantaal 's review for:
The Peculiars
by Maureen Doyle McQuerry
Originally posted at The Wandering Fangirl.
The Peculiars is a novel that seems like tons of fun and could be host to a thrilling adventure and a journey of self-discovery, but it simply falls flat.
The story starts off strong as we’re introduced to Lena Mattacascar, who has extra knuckles in her hands and feet, something she believes to be a sign of goblinism, which might make her a Peculiar and thus unacceptable to society and herself. Most of the novel centers on Lena’s growing struggle with herself, what being part goblin might mean, and how she can accept herself for what she is — if she can even reach acceptance in the first place. The only real excitement happens in the first big set piece of the novel, as Lena meets Jimson Quiggley on a train, and their train is stopped by someone breaking a hostage free. Excitement! Action! Intrigue!
Then we spend a huge chunk of the middle of the novel with Lena and Jimson getting to know each other, getting to know Mr. Beasley and his library, and Lena moving into Too Stupid To Live territory.
I truly wanted to like Lena after we first meet her, but I liked her less and less with every stupid decision, rash action or conclusion jump. It’s obvious to us as readers that she’s seeing everything wrong, but she’s so willfully stubborn about everything, so caught up in her own self-loathing and her view on Peculiars that she can’t grow as a person. What little growth we do see happens in the last 50 or so pages of the novel, and that’s too little too late.
Jimson Quiggley and Mr. Beasley, along with Marshall Sartre and a whole host of secondary characters didn’t feel drawn in enough. With the novel focusing on Lena’s internal struggles it makes sense that the other characters wouldn’t be as prominent, but there can be more to a character than “he’s very rational and likes books” and “he has drawn on eyebrows for some reason.”
As for the steampunk element, there wasn’t much of it. There is an aerocopter, yes, and some other attributes that would put this novel in the steampunk genre, but it doesn’t have the feel of steampunk; it simply feels like historical fiction with some slight alterations.
Overall, The Peculiars showed some promise in the ideas and basic story. While a part of Lena’s story is interesting, it doesn’t hold up to the poor execution of the novel as a whole.
The Peculiars is a novel that seems like tons of fun and could be host to a thrilling adventure and a journey of self-discovery, but it simply falls flat.
The story starts off strong as we’re introduced to Lena Mattacascar, who has extra knuckles in her hands and feet, something she believes to be a sign of goblinism, which might make her a Peculiar and thus unacceptable to society and herself. Most of the novel centers on Lena’s growing struggle with herself, what being part goblin might mean, and how she can accept herself for what she is — if she can even reach acceptance in the first place. The only real excitement happens in the first big set piece of the novel, as Lena meets Jimson Quiggley on a train, and their train is stopped by someone breaking a hostage free. Excitement! Action! Intrigue!
Then we spend a huge chunk of the middle of the novel with Lena and Jimson getting to know each other, getting to know Mr. Beasley and his library, and Lena moving into Too Stupid To Live territory.
I truly wanted to like Lena after we first meet her, but I liked her less and less with every stupid decision, rash action or conclusion jump. It’s obvious to us as readers that she’s seeing everything wrong, but she’s so willfully stubborn about everything, so caught up in her own self-loathing and her view on Peculiars that she can’t grow as a person. What little growth we do see happens in the last 50 or so pages of the novel, and that’s too little too late.
Jimson Quiggley and Mr. Beasley, along with Marshall Sartre and a whole host of secondary characters didn’t feel drawn in enough. With the novel focusing on Lena’s internal struggles it makes sense that the other characters wouldn’t be as prominent, but there can be more to a character than “he’s very rational and likes books” and “he has drawn on eyebrows for some reason.”
As for the steampunk element, there wasn’t much of it. There is an aerocopter, yes, and some other attributes that would put this novel in the steampunk genre, but it doesn’t have the feel of steampunk; it simply feels like historical fiction with some slight alterations.
Overall, The Peculiars showed some promise in the ideas and basic story. While a part of Lena’s story is interesting, it doesn’t hold up to the poor execution of the novel as a whole.