A review by maedo
Feathered by Laura Kasischke
2.0
Oh, this book. THIS BOOK. I loved it for the first two-thirds or maybe even three-fourths, and then it did a bunch of things I did not like. And I'm not just saying this because what I wanted to happen didn't happen -- I don't even know what I wanted to happen -- but because the things that did happen are cheap and easy and maybe a little offensive, too.
Things I did like in this book:
a.) Kasischke's writing style. Flowery but precise, effectively evoking place and feeling without the pretension of other "literary" writers who shall not be named here.
b.) The place. I can't think of another piece of YA fiction -- or even adult fiction -- that is centered around Chichen Itza or Mayan civilization in general. If you can, please rec that shit to me. I've always been obsessed with this subject, to the point that a horribly taught Mesoamerican archaeology course in college and my parents not wanting to go see Chichen Itza even though we were RIGHT THERE IN MEXICO LIKE AN HOUR AWAY and it was the first time my teenage self ever wanted to voluntarily see something historical, has not deterred me. Which brings me to the thing I liked best about the book...
c.) For about the middle third of the book, it explores the Michelle character's preoccupation with history, her own and also the history of Chichen Itza. And it transforms her. I guarantee that some people will be annoyed by this plot point, because it romanticizes (exoticizes?) Mayan culture, but I love the idea of a character being drawn to a culture and a history inexplicably. It's a real thing that happens, and is barely ever written about. I would rather read this plot than any true romance.
Which leads me to the elements of the book that I didn't like. Namely, that this romantic fascination with Mayan history crosses over into some cringeworthy "noble savage" territory when Michelle, the American girl left in the jungle naked to die, is lifted up and carried away by some living Mayans with "painted faces" (lol, really?), who then care for her until she is found by her mother. She becomes "wild" to the point that she actually forgets who she is. I considered that maybe she just had a bout of traumatic amnesia from what the boys did to her, but it wouldn't have lasted months and wouldn't have been almost complete amnesia. Crash and burn, book. Crash and burn.
In addition to this major quibble, after Michelle disappears and Anne returns to America, the book's hazy, transient tone becomes practical and moralizing. "Look, Michelle is all over CNN and NBC and Vogue, this is why you must be careful on spring break, ladies." Kasischke already makes the point that strangers are not to be trusted when Anne's distrust of strangers and Michelle's distrust of men in general are ignored to go with the Illinois boys, and bad things happen as a result. Must we really bring Nancy Grace into this too? (She's not name dropped in the book, but you know she'd be all over this if it were a real life case.)
All in all, Feathered probably deserves less than three stars. But I enjoyed so much of it for the three reasons listed above that I don't have the heart to be objective.
Things I did like in this book:
a.) Kasischke's writing style. Flowery but precise, effectively evoking place and feeling without the pretension of other "literary" writers who shall not be named here.
b.) The place. I can't think of another piece of YA fiction -- or even adult fiction -- that is centered around Chichen Itza or Mayan civilization in general. If you can, please rec that shit to me. I've always been obsessed with this subject, to the point that a horribly taught Mesoamerican archaeology course in college and my parents not wanting to go see Chichen Itza even though we were RIGHT THERE IN MEXICO LIKE AN HOUR AWAY and it was the first time my teenage self ever wanted to voluntarily see something historical, has not deterred me. Which brings me to the thing I liked best about the book...
c.) For about the middle third of the book, it explores the Michelle character's preoccupation with history, her own and also the history of Chichen Itza. And it transforms her. I guarantee that some people will be annoyed by this plot point, because it romanticizes (exoticizes?) Mayan culture, but I love the idea of a character being drawn to a culture and a history inexplicably. It's a real thing that happens, and is barely ever written about. I would rather read this plot than any true romance.
Which leads me to the elements of the book that I didn't like. Namely, that this romantic fascination with Mayan history crosses over into some cringeworthy "noble savage" territory when Michelle, the American girl left in the jungle naked to die, is lifted up and carried away by some living Mayans with "painted faces" (lol, really?), who then care for her until she is found by her mother. She becomes "wild" to the point that she actually forgets who she is. I considered that maybe she just had a bout of traumatic amnesia from what the boys did to her, but it wouldn't have lasted months and wouldn't have been almost complete amnesia. Crash and burn, book. Crash and burn.
In addition to this major quibble, after Michelle disappears and Anne returns to America, the book's hazy, transient tone becomes practical and moralizing. "Look, Michelle is all over CNN and NBC and Vogue, this is why you must be careful on spring break, ladies." Kasischke already makes the point that strangers are not to be trusted when Anne's distrust of strangers and Michelle's distrust of men in general are ignored to go with the Illinois boys, and bad things happen as a result. Must we really bring Nancy Grace into this too? (She's not name dropped in the book, but you know she'd be all over this if it were a real life case.)
All in all, Feathered probably deserves less than three stars. But I enjoyed so much of it for the three reasons listed above that I don't have the heart to be objective.