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A review by frootlupo
Sand Dunes and Skyscrapers by Delia Simpson
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Sand Dunes and Skyscrapers has an interesting premise and a fair amount of potential, but ultimate suffers from not fully knowing what it wants to be.
Sand Dunes sits in a novelette range in length, which is a fairly tricky length to work with. It’s not long enough to spend much time in exposition without making the story lose momentum, but it’s too long to just leave things completely vague and evocative without any answers, and so it requires a VERY deft hand to make it work well. This defines my struggles with the book perfectly. It felt like the author had such interesting ideas they wanted to explore, but didn’t give themselves enough time to really unpack them. So while I would have been satisfied with no answers and things just left mysterious, what we ended up with was a lot of quick or half answers that didn’t satisfying as much either way. I thought the protagonist was charming, and the loss of agency could have been really interesting, but we didn’t get enough time with any internal struggles. Some of these struggles are likely smoothed out in the larger series, but books need to be self-sufficient to a degree as well.
Overall, the book had an interesting premise and fun moments, but left me a little wanting in the end.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Sand Dunes sits in a novelette range in length, which is a fairly tricky length to work with. It’s not long enough to spend much time in exposition without making the story lose momentum, but it’s too long to just leave things completely vague and evocative without any answers, and so it requires a VERY deft hand to make it work well. This defines my struggles with the book perfectly. It felt like the author had such interesting ideas they wanted to explore, but didn’t give themselves enough time to really unpack them. So while I would have been satisfied with no answers and things just left mysterious, what we ended up with was a lot of quick or half answers that didn’t satisfying as much either way. I thought the protagonist was charming, and the loss of agency could have been really interesting, but we didn’t get enough time with any internal struggles. Some of these struggles are likely smoothed out in the larger series, but books need to be self-sufficient to a degree as well.
Overall, the book had an interesting premise and fun moments, but left me a little wanting in the end.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.