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popthebutterfly 's review for:
To Best the Boys
by Mary Weber
Disclaimer: I received this book from Netgalley. Thanks! All opinions are my own.
Book Series: Standalone
Rating: 2/5
Publication Date: March 19, 2019
Genre: YA Fantasy
Recommended Age: 13+ (violence, some scary moments)
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Pages: 352
Amazon Link
Synopsis: Every year for the past fifty-four years, the residents of Pinsbury Port receive a mysterious letter inviting all eligible-aged boys to compete for an esteemed scholarship to the all-male Stemwick University. Every year, the poorer residents look to see that their names are on the list. The wealthier look to see how likely their sons are to survive. And Rhen Tellur opens it to see if she can derive which substances the ink and parchment are created from, using her father’s microscope.
In the province of Caldon, where women are trained in wifely duties and men are encouraged into collegiate education, sixteen-year-old Rhen Tellur wants nothing more than to become a scientist. As the poor of her seaside town fall prey to a deadly disease, she and her father work desperately to find a cure. But when her Mum succumbs to it as well? Rhen decides to take the future into her own hands—through the annual all-male scholarship competition.
With her cousin, Seleni, by her side, the girls don disguises and enter Mr. Holm’s labyrinth, to best the boys and claim the scholarship prize. Except not everyone’s ready for a girl who doesn’t know her place. And not everyone survives the maze.
Review: So, for the most part the book was well written and I thought it was an interesting premise. I know this book resonated with a lot of young women and I respect the author for that. I also liked that the book didn’t overly rely on the romance aspect of this book. It seems like a lot of people think it’s a great book.
However, I’m not one of those people. I really really disliked this book for a multitude of reasons. The book had an issue with a lot of repeating sentences. I know that they were for effect, but it just annoyed me. It took me until 56% of the way through to get to the labyrinth. Everything before could have been summed up in a couple of chapters in my opinion and the way the book is now just makes it feel really slow. The exclusion that Rhen found in the papers was, in my opinion, really dumb. I feel like someone years before now could have seen it since it was so obvious. I feel that the premise of the book was that this main character would defy the societal rules to enter this labyrinth, but the way it was presented in this book feels that there was always an expectation for someone to find it and that when it would be found out it wouldn’t have been a big deal. The book is supposed to touch on gender inequality but I don’t feel like it adequately addressed it. I have a question about the university. Does it only accept one person a year? I’m so confused by this. At one point the main is in the labyrinth and thinks that mind altering drugs are being used, but she can see what the afflicted person is seeing… sooo it’s not drugs? Higher education doesn’t seem to be a big concern for the girls. Rhen’s main concern was healing her mother and Seleni’s whole personality can be summed as obsessed about this one boy. And speaking about the illness her mother suffers, this illness is really the focal point of the book. The whole labyrinth and Rhen is just a sidestory to this. The magic isn’t explained, some parts of the book aren’t explained at all, and I feel like the disguise part of the book is really laughably weak. The main cuts her hair. Seleni pins her hair up and under a hat. They wear pants. These people that have known them for 16 years don’t recognize them? It’s not like they live in NYC, they live in a small village. There are plot holes galore and the book reads more like a rushed rough draft than a nearly finished book.
Verdict: Overall, I feel really lied to about this book. I imagined it being something else, something fantastic and death defying and exciting. I got a book in which the main storyline isn’t represented by the hook or synopsis. I’m really disappointed in this book, as it was one of my most anticipated reads of this year. However, I know that the majority of people really liked this book, so if it seems interesting to you I definitely recommend that you read it for yourself.
Book Series: Standalone
Rating: 2/5
Publication Date: March 19, 2019
Genre: YA Fantasy
Recommended Age: 13+ (violence, some scary moments)
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Pages: 352
Amazon Link
Synopsis: Every year for the past fifty-four years, the residents of Pinsbury Port receive a mysterious letter inviting all eligible-aged boys to compete for an esteemed scholarship to the all-male Stemwick University. Every year, the poorer residents look to see that their names are on the list. The wealthier look to see how likely their sons are to survive. And Rhen Tellur opens it to see if she can derive which substances the ink and parchment are created from, using her father’s microscope.
In the province of Caldon, where women are trained in wifely duties and men are encouraged into collegiate education, sixteen-year-old Rhen Tellur wants nothing more than to become a scientist. As the poor of her seaside town fall prey to a deadly disease, she and her father work desperately to find a cure. But when her Mum succumbs to it as well? Rhen decides to take the future into her own hands—through the annual all-male scholarship competition.
With her cousin, Seleni, by her side, the girls don disguises and enter Mr. Holm’s labyrinth, to best the boys and claim the scholarship prize. Except not everyone’s ready for a girl who doesn’t know her place. And not everyone survives the maze.
Review: So, for the most part the book was well written and I thought it was an interesting premise. I know this book resonated with a lot of young women and I respect the author for that. I also liked that the book didn’t overly rely on the romance aspect of this book. It seems like a lot of people think it’s a great book.
However, I’m not one of those people. I really really disliked this book for a multitude of reasons. The book had an issue with a lot of repeating sentences. I know that they were for effect, but it just annoyed me. It took me until 56% of the way through to get to the labyrinth. Everything before could have been summed up in a couple of chapters in my opinion and the way the book is now just makes it feel really slow. The exclusion that Rhen found in the papers was, in my opinion, really dumb. I feel like someone years before now could have seen it since it was so obvious. I feel that the premise of the book was that this main character would defy the societal rules to enter this labyrinth, but the way it was presented in this book feels that there was always an expectation for someone to find it and that when it would be found out it wouldn’t have been a big deal. The book is supposed to touch on gender inequality but I don’t feel like it adequately addressed it. I have a question about the university. Does it only accept one person a year? I’m so confused by this. At one point the main is in the labyrinth and thinks that mind altering drugs are being used, but she can see what the afflicted person is seeing… sooo it’s not drugs? Higher education doesn’t seem to be a big concern for the girls. Rhen’s main concern was healing her mother and Seleni’s whole personality can be summed as obsessed about this one boy. And speaking about the illness her mother suffers, this illness is really the focal point of the book. The whole labyrinth and Rhen is just a sidestory to this. The magic isn’t explained, some parts of the book aren’t explained at all, and I feel like the disguise part of the book is really laughably weak. The main cuts her hair. Seleni pins her hair up and under a hat. They wear pants. These people that have known them for 16 years don’t recognize them? It’s not like they live in NYC, they live in a small village. There are plot holes galore and the book reads more like a rushed rough draft than a nearly finished book.
Verdict: Overall, I feel really lied to about this book. I imagined it being something else, something fantastic and death defying and exciting. I got a book in which the main storyline isn’t represented by the hook or synopsis. I’m really disappointed in this book, as it was one of my most anticipated reads of this year. However, I know that the majority of people really liked this book, so if it seems interesting to you I definitely recommend that you read it for yourself.