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a_wren_that_reads's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Rape, Violence, Blood, and Cultural appropriation
Moderate: Medical content and Car accident
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Infidelity, Racism, Sexual content, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Classism
rachaelarsenault's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
0.25
Endless recaps and cultural appropriation: the novel.
This book is incredibly slow and agonizingly boring. For example, the authors manage to stretch about an hour worth of events into forty-four pages that consist almost entirely of dialogue. This is all exposition or "witty" banter. Though there is foreshadowing, we don't get to the actual plot until page 164 in the form of a prophecy - and then proceed to spend about thirty pages discussing the prophecy. And there's more endless recapping and over-analyzing of other plot points on top of that. This book probably could have been condensed into about 100 pages and it would have been way, way better.
Then again, some elements are incredibly rushed. Most notable is the introduction of a new character named Stark. SPOILERS! He appears on page 19, is introduced to readers so hastily that Zoey manages to intuit his entire personality from about five minutes of interaction, we learn his entire backstory between chapters eleven and twelve, Zoey randomly decides he's her soulmate during that conversation, and then he dies on page 100. However, his character is only actually present in scenes for 23 pages before his death. That means he only has 23 pages of development, but readers are expected to care about him as a major character and love interest.
The aforementioned prophecy is pretty awful, and not just because it's terribly written free-verse poetry. It's based in a bastardized version of Cherokee legend. In my review of "Marked", I commented on how characters would comment on folkloric ideas about vampyres and dismiss them as false. Everyone knows those elements of vampirism, so writing new interpretations of these creatures isn't really a big deal. Most people, however, know absolutely nothing about Cherokee legend. In this story, the legend of Raven Mockers is completely rewritten to the point of being almost unrecognizable and none of the characters ever comment on the fact that this is contrary to the traditional stories about these creatures. This means that anyone who reads this book will most likely take this bastardization as being the actual legend, perpetuating serious misinformation about a culture that receives little recognition within mainstream society and culture. This is pretty bad.
Moreover, the prophecy demonstrates a serious historical fail. SPOILERS! An evil fallen angel named Kalona (yes, the bastardized Cherokee legend includes Judeo-Christian angels) was imprisoned in the earth a thousand years ago and just so happens to be underneath a tree on the House of Night campus. There are two problems here. 1) The Cherokee as such did not exist back then. A thousand years ago, that region hosted the Mississipian empire. 2) The Cherokee people are not indigenous to Oklahoma, where the story is set, but were forcibly relocated there in the 1830s under the Removal Act as part of an atrocious historical event known as the Trail of Tears. Either the authors somehow never came across information about the Trail of Tears in all their research or they decided to ignore it. Both possibilities are extremely problematic, once again having the effect of perpetuating serious misinformation.
Honestly, there's not much else to say about this book. All the same problems as before persist in this installment, it just somehow manages to be even more drawn out and boring than the other books.
This book is incredibly slow and agonizingly boring. For example, the authors manage to stretch about an hour worth of events into forty-four pages that consist almost entirely of dialogue. This is all exposition or "witty" banter. Though there is foreshadowing, we don't get to the actual plot until page 164 in the form of a prophecy - and then proceed to spend about thirty pages discussing the prophecy. And there's more endless recapping and over-analyzing of other plot points on top of that. This book probably could have been condensed into about 100 pages and it would have been way, way better.
Then again, some elements are incredibly rushed. Most notable is the introduction of a new character named Stark. SPOILERS! He appears on page 19, is introduced to readers so hastily that Zoey manages to intuit his entire personality from about five minutes of interaction, we learn his entire backstory between chapters eleven and twelve, Zoey randomly decides he's her soulmate during that conversation, and then he dies on page 100. However, his character is only actually present in scenes for 23 pages before his death. That means he only has 23 pages of development, but readers are expected to care about him as a major character and love interest.
The aforementioned prophecy is pretty awful, and not just because it's terribly written free-verse poetry. It's based in a bastardized version of Cherokee legend. In my review of "Marked", I commented on how characters would comment on folkloric ideas about vampyres and dismiss them as false. Everyone knows those elements of vampirism, so writing new interpretations of these creatures isn't really a big deal. Most people, however, know absolutely nothing about Cherokee legend. In this story, the legend of Raven Mockers is completely rewritten to the point of being almost unrecognizable and none of the characters ever comment on the fact that this is contrary to the traditional stories about these creatures. This means that anyone who reads this book will most likely take this bastardization as being the actual legend, perpetuating serious misinformation about a culture that receives little recognition within mainstream society and culture. This is pretty bad.
Moreover, the prophecy demonstrates a serious historical fail. SPOILERS! An evil fallen angel named Kalona (yes, the bastardized Cherokee legend includes Judeo-Christian angels) was imprisoned in the earth a thousand years ago and just so happens to be underneath a tree on the House of Night campus. There are two problems here. 1) The Cherokee as such did not exist back then. A thousand years ago, that region hosted the Mississipian empire. 2) The Cherokee people are not indigenous to Oklahoma, where the story is set, but were forcibly relocated there in the 1830s under the Removal Act as part of an atrocious historical event known as the Trail of Tears. Either the authors somehow never came across information about the Trail of Tears in all their research or they decided to ignore it. Both possibilities are extremely problematic, once again having the effect of perpetuating serious misinformation.
Honestly, there's not much else to say about this book. All the same problems as before persist in this installment, it just somehow manages to be even more drawn out and boring than the other books.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Misogyny and Racism
Minor: Fatphobia and Rape
Sex shaming