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capssuds 's review for:
Something Strange and Deadly
by Susan Dennard
This book was... eh.
It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great. I was bored so I checked it out of my e-library (Libby will change your lives, folks!), and I read it. I'm a sucker for zombie stories, and a sucker for gaslight fantasy/steampunk/gears and stuff. This book didn't quite feed my addiction, but it was... eh.
*spoiler note*
It's your typical YA novel. 15/16-year-old girl (pardon me but that is LITERALLY a CHILD) is searching for her beloved brother (which is put on hold and only mentioned here and there, it sort of feels like the author forgot about that VERY IMPORTANT part of the story). However, this is put on hold when she meets some mysterious travelers! She learns the liberty of changing into a pair of trousers, and she's nothing special... EXCEPT THAT SHE IS. When the lead of this ragtag gang, the magical, the powerful hero Boyer(whom I adored, I want to read about the creole zombie fighter, I would def crackdown on a book about him) goes down and is injured, Eleanor (with no training, no absolute idea of what she's doing, miraculously, last second) activates her Super Saiyan side and fights. Eleanor ex Machina. And she's GOOD AT IT.
She's also the object of affection for 2 dudes. At 15 (or 16). I get times were different then, but it just was weird to read this girl, who would just now be learning how to drive, is being pursued by 2 grown men (19 and around that age). Clarence is rich, handsome, but a little bit crazy. He seems to really like Eleanor, but he's also a few cattle short of a rodeo. A few pebbles short of Cocoa Puffs. Needs to spend the weekend in a padded cell. (I'm probably overthinking this, but he seemed a little insane to me. Have I made that clear? He's a little wackadoo.) Daniel, who's the hunky, spunky, crass 19 years old, and every time they talk they argue. Dangit. They argue.
I'll let you guess who her love interest is. *hint, it's Daniel* They don't have chemistry. Sure, she saves his life. But the transition from bickering to friends to lovers isn't a smooth one. The transition was a bit like cliff diving. I climbed up, waiting for the chemistry, and then I was *abruptly* shoved off the edge into the water. There wasn't much buildup, and when there was it was so subtle and small that I couldn't trip on it if it was right in front of me (and I trip over everything, including a flat surface).
Eleanor is bland for me, an adult reader, but she's very much a YA heroine. Young, "different", "not like other girls" kind of girl, likes wearing pants but all the other girls (except Jie, the Asian who knows martial arts because... Asian.) wear dresses. She makes younger girls feel like they stand out, but not in necessarily a positive way. I can see middle school girls and junior high girls liking her. But not because she's a well rounded, unique person. She's more of a power fantasy (which is also kind of the point of a lot of fiction, so I guess it's okay????).
The writing wasn't terrible. It's good enough to get published, but not GREAT. It felt like one of those books that glorify victorian fashion to be sexy and buxom and scandalous, but that was just me. The technology wasn't really steampunk. Sure, there was Daniel and his machines, but that was just about it. This technology was displayed in a museum (let me reiterate: uncommon), but for a steampunk book, the steam technology is supposed to be daily life use, common, and helps life flow in their world. Here's it's an anomaly and something odd, so I wouldn't truly say it's "steampunk".
Oh, and I knew the twist right off the bat. Everything was super predictable. Brother is a bad guy? Called it. Clarence dies so she can be with Daniel easier? Check. Brother wants to revive dead dad and all the zombies are a result of him getting in Harry-Potter-Dark-Arts? ... I actually didn't expect that to be a cause of a zombie apocalypse. I guess the author got inspired by Voodoopunk and voodoo legends of raising the dead. Which is more refreshing than a book that's "ZomBie? BecAUSe ZoMbIE???" So, I actually liked that.
The book wasn't bad, but nothing that will stick with me. It'll be one of those books where I go, "Oh, yeah... so that was a book. Huh."
At least it's not a Handbook for Mortals or Twilight.
TL;DR, "Special" girl puts on pants, saves day. Aight book. 3 stars.
It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great. I was bored so I checked it out of my e-library (Libby will change your lives, folks!), and I read it. I'm a sucker for zombie stories, and a sucker for gaslight fantasy/steampunk/gears and stuff. This book didn't quite feed my addiction, but it was... eh.
*spoiler note*
It's your typical YA novel. 15/16-year-old girl (pardon me but that is LITERALLY a CHILD) is searching for her beloved brother (which is put on hold and only mentioned here and there, it sort of feels like the author forgot about that VERY IMPORTANT part of the story). However, this is put on hold when she meets some mysterious travelers! She learns the liberty of changing into a pair of trousers, and she's nothing special... EXCEPT THAT SHE IS. When the lead of this ragtag gang, the magical, the powerful hero Boyer(whom I adored, I want to read about the creole zombie fighter, I would def crackdown on a book about him) goes down and is injured, Eleanor (with no training, no absolute idea of what she's doing, miraculously, last second) activates her Super Saiyan side and fights. Eleanor ex Machina. And she's GOOD AT IT.
She's also the object of affection for 2 dudes. At 15 (or 16). I get times were different then, but it just was weird to read this girl, who would just now be learning how to drive, is being pursued by 2 grown men (19 and around that age). Clarence is rich, handsome, but a little bit crazy. He seems to really like Eleanor, but he's also a few cattle short of a rodeo. A few pebbles short of Cocoa Puffs. Needs to spend the weekend in a padded cell. (I'm probably overthinking this, but he seemed a little insane to me. Have I made that clear? He's a little wackadoo.) Daniel, who's the hunky, spunky, crass 19 years old, and every time they talk they argue. Dangit. They argue.
I'll let you guess who her love interest is. *hint, it's Daniel* They don't have chemistry. Sure, she saves his life. But the transition from bickering to friends to lovers isn't a smooth one. The transition was a bit like cliff diving. I climbed up, waiting for the chemistry, and then I was *abruptly* shoved off the edge into the water. There wasn't much buildup, and when there was it was so subtle and small that I couldn't trip on it if it was right in front of me (and I trip over everything, including a flat surface).
Eleanor is bland for me, an adult reader, but she's very much a YA heroine. Young, "different", "not like other girls" kind of girl, likes wearing pants but all the other girls (except Jie, the Asian who knows martial arts because... Asian.) wear dresses. She makes younger girls feel like they stand out, but not in necessarily a positive way. I can see middle school girls and junior high girls liking her. But not because she's a well rounded, unique person. She's more of a power fantasy (which is also kind of the point of a lot of fiction, so I guess it's okay????).
The writing wasn't terrible. It's good enough to get published, but not GREAT. It felt like one of those books that glorify victorian fashion to be sexy and buxom and scandalous, but that was just me. The technology wasn't really steampunk. Sure, there was Daniel and his machines, but that was just about it. This technology was displayed in a museum (let me reiterate: uncommon), but for a steampunk book, the steam technology is supposed to be daily life use, common, and helps life flow in their world. Here's it's an anomaly and something odd, so I wouldn't truly say it's "steampunk".
Oh, and I knew the twist right off the bat. Everything was super predictable. Brother is a bad guy? Called it. Clarence dies so she can be with Daniel easier? Check. Brother wants to revive dead dad and all the zombies are a result of him getting in Harry-Potter-Dark-Arts? ... I actually didn't expect that to be a cause of a zombie apocalypse. I guess the author got inspired by Voodoopunk and voodoo legends of raising the dead. Which is more refreshing than a book that's "ZomBie? BecAUSe ZoMbIE???" So, I actually liked that.
The book wasn't bad, but nothing that will stick with me. It'll be one of those books where I go, "Oh, yeah... so that was a book. Huh."
At least it's not a Handbook for Mortals or Twilight.
TL;DR, "Special" girl puts on pants, saves day. Aight book. 3 stars.