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My heart is physically aching. I will never be articulate enough to put these feelings into words, to describe the importance, beauty and poignancy of this narrative.
I think this is a great middle-grade book, and look forward to sharing it with students.
This was not the best choice for my first delve into Rainbow Rowell. sigh.
starting with the positives - second half of the book, great! Engaging and some great characterization. I loved the family aspects and the relationships between Penny, Simon and Baz.
Baz in general was great, Penny was endearing in a 'little-to-close-to-Hermione' way and the side characters that were given some depth also added some great colour.
Cons -
AGATHA. What a pointless, unnecessary character. Not only did she add NOTHING to the story, she was annoying!! Honestly, remove her from the story and nothing would have changed.
The set up- Did anyone else feel like the first half of this book, laying out the world, introducing the magical system, relationship backstories, etc was just really rushed and 'told, not shown'? I felt as though it was almost like a rushed info dump to get the reader to the level of background knowledge needed to tell the actual intended story. I would have much preferred a series that lead the reader into the luves of these characters, instead of drop kicking us into the final year of their schooling and trying to play catch-up.
This could have just been SO GOOD. Queer magic... so here for that! But it was just... meh :(
*frustrated groan*
starting with the positives - second half of the book, great! Engaging and some great characterization. I loved the family aspects and the relationships between Penny, Simon and Baz.
Baz in general was great, Penny was endearing in a 'little-to-close-to-Hermione' way and the side characters that were given some depth also added some great colour.
Cons -
AGATHA. What a pointless, unnecessary character. Not only did she add NOTHING to the story, she was annoying!! Honestly, remove her from the story and nothing would have changed.
The set up- Did anyone else feel like the first half of this book, laying out the world, introducing the magical system, relationship backstories, etc was just really rushed and 'told, not shown'? I felt as though it was almost like a rushed info dump to get the reader to the level of background knowledge needed to tell the actual intended story. I would have much preferred a series that lead the reader into the luves of these characters, instead of drop kicking us into the final year of their schooling and trying to play catch-up.
This could have just been SO GOOD. Queer magic... so here for that! But it was just... meh :(
*frustrated groan*
I am very interested in the opinion of anyone whom identifies as Native American has on this book. Knowing how damaging/problematic the original tale is, I have been trying to locate own voice reviews to better understand anything I may have missed in this retelling that may be problematic to Native American culture.
In saying that, apart from some small things here and there, I did enjoy this book - I love the idea of it being told from Tink's POV, and her being stuck in the spectator role, unable to effectively communicate.
In saying that, apart from some small things here and there, I did enjoy this book - I love the idea of it being told from Tink's POV, and her being stuck in the spectator role, unable to effectively communicate.
It took me a little longer than expected to get fully immersed in this, but once I was in, boy was I in! I think this book is beautifully written, the story unfolds at a great pace and is told in an earnest, natural way.
4.5 rating - truly beautiful.
4.5 rating - truly beautiful.
