Well, it had to happen eventually. After a really excellent start to my 2020 reading year, this is my first two-star book of the year.

I think the thing that was the most disappointing about this is that it was from Book of the Month. Now, I haven't loved everything that I've ever chosen from BOTM, but I do think that there is usually something in the book that I can point to and say, "I get why this was chosen as a BOTM even if I didn't enjoy it." I didn't have that experience here. And while this is technically a part of the YA BOTM and not the traditional adult version of the site, I think it's a disservice to YA, which has consistently good titles, to pick a book like this. Also, it is advertised by the site as a sci-fi book, when really it's more paranormal. There aren't any actual 'sci-fi' elements to be found.

I know that sounds harsh, but this book just isn't great.

The main issue I had with this was the writing and lack of development of the world, characters, and plot. So...pretty much everything.
The writing is just very basic. It tries to be descriptive and evocative, but just ends up sounding flowery without a purpose. And at the same time, it's very vague in some instances. The following is an excerpt of a dream our protagonist is describing:
I was brought into a white-walled castle and thrown at the foot of a throne made of human bones and possessions. The throne room had no ceiling, and I could see the gunmetal clouds covering the sky, indifferent stars invisible but present.
It feels like the word 'possessions' is a filler word that the author put in as she was drafting that she just never went back to at any point during the editing process. Also, the 'indifferent stars invisible but present' (that is an exact grammatical lift from the text) line doesn't serve any purpose except to 'sound cool' or something. This is by no means the only instance of this vague or purposeless language, but it was one that stuck out while I was reading it.

There are also some very silly structural moments that felt like they were written by a kid or someone who is trying to play with structure to make a more interesting experience and it just came off as juvenile to me. On page 50, the characters are getting started with their job processing finds from the archaeological dig they are on.
I took it to my station, on my way grabbing an empty tray. I poured some water into the tray... When I checked my watch again, it was nearly lunchtime.

Full disclosure: I use ellipses when I write reviews, texts, even emails. I also don't have a huge problem with them being used (sparingly) in novels. But there was no need whatsoever for them to be used here, at the end of a paragraph. The concept of time passing could've been conveyed in any number of ways. It could've been as simple as saying:
I poured some water into the tray and began the meticulous process of cataloging the finds from the dig.
When I checked my watch again, it was nearly lunchtime.
I know that there are people who will think I'm being nitpicky, and so be it. But it bothered me.

Another moment occurs later in the book, when the protagonist is describing something. I'm being a little vague because spoilers, but the phrase itself isn't a spoiler:
And I fell and I fellandifellandifell.
Perhaps if things like this were done throughout the book I could've attributed it to a stylistic choice the author was making, much in the same way poets play with the visual form their works take on the page, but it's just this once, and it bothered me.

Also, the chapters end in awkward and sometimes jarring ways. It's confusing, because often it's in the middle of a scene, and then the next chapter continues the exact same scene, which makes it a strange time for a chapter break, in my opinion. I would understand if there was more than one POV character and we were switching from one perspective to another within the scene, but this is all from Alif's perspective, so it really made no sense.

Moving on from the actual writing/structure, let's talk about characters. The characters were not well-developed at all. We're told they're these great friends, and they must be since Alif (our protagonist) was able to talk them all into going with her to an archaeological dig to Dubai for their summer vacation. But aside from one scene with them drinking together, they are pretty much at odds before and after that moment. Even in that scene, there's tension that no one is willing to deal with. It makes the way they turn against each other not mean that much to me, because I never bought them as a strong friend group. They read more like frenemies, even from the first page.

Also, there is an attempt at diversity with these characters, but it's done very sloppily and has really no bearing on anything that happens in the book. It wouldn't have mattered if these kids were all white, all black, all brown, or some combination thereof, because after we were given very rudimentary introductions to all of the characters by Alif in the first chapters of the book, it's never really mentioned again. Their ethnic and cultural backgrounds don't seem to inform any of their beliefs or decisions, and to shove it in the beginning of the book that she and several of her friends are people of color felt like pandering, or like she was trying to check off some diversity box.

The plot itself is also very basic and surface-level. It's a shame, because this book has a really intriguing premise. It's the only reason this book isn't a one star read for me. It's a cool idea, but the execution is seriously lacking. We go from one scene to another with very little transition, except the strangely timed chapter breaks. Emotional outbursts and conversations seem to come out of nowhere just to move the plot along moments that should be emotional for the reader, if they were better written, are given no time to breathe before we move on to the next conversation. Now, if this was an action-packed novel, I could understand that. But something awful would happen, and in the next scene instead of these people talking about it or trying to deal with it, we hear about Alif and how much it's annoying her that one of her friends has a crush on her and how much she really wants to kiss the cute guy working for her father. Like...what? You just saw

someone impaled in a pit of spikes

and all you're worried about is if the boy you like likes you back? Oooookay...
I at least thought the parts about archaeology were going to be interesting, but there wasn't really enough time spent on that, which is a shame.

The end was something I kind of expected, and while I like where it ended up in concept, again, I felt like the execution just wasn't there. I wonder what would've happened with this idea in the hands of another writer, and still think it has potential. And I'm probably going to be in the minority, so maybe it's just a me problem. I did like that it's an open ending.

A couple more WTF moments:

1. So they drop the tablet and it stays in two pieces, but later on they get the two pieces back together and the magically reunite. Why? Why didn't that happen to begin with?

2. Alif drops poisonous berries in their source of fresh water on the oasis, which we're supposed to believe taints the water. First, I'm not sure that's how that would work. I mean, I don't actually KNOW how that would work, but unless they'd been smashed and dropped in the water...also, just handling them made Alif's fingers go numb, but they're able to drink the water again a couple hours later, no problem?

3. I found it a little too meta that the main character realizes that the writing sample she used in an application to a creative writing program was full of cliches and overwritten melodrama (she uses the example of 'releasing breaths I didn't know I was holding') but the author doesn't realize that she is guilty of the same thing, and also the opposite. There are parts of this that are overwritten and serve no purpose, and others that are given no time to develop.

I don't see myself picking up anything from this author in the future.