Scan barcode
A review by ashmeanything
A Snake Falls To Earth by Darcie Little Badger
4.0
Such a charming book! I really enjoyed this, and I am dismayed to say that it was my first time reading anything by an Indigenous person (to my knowledge). Seeing how the story incorporated Native culture and beliefs added something special, and I appreciate the nods to conservation and caring for the Earth. The concept of two converged worlds was really cool, and the author did a great job balancing the perspectives of multiple characters to tell the story. Following a story with multiple distinct personalities was never difficult, and I always adore a ragtag team. I would love to know more about the Reflecting World! Lots of things here made me smile.
I did have two big issues with the book, and I struggled on whether I'd give this 3.5 or 4 stars... I ultimately decided that, while annoying and very noticeable, the problem didn't take away so much from the many parts that were good. It bothered me how many unnecessary details were added in depth, almost as if the author wasn't sure how to make the world seem real without erroneous pieces of information. (Ironically, they did a good job without them already.) It's not important to explain every detail of the video-sharing app Nina uses, for example, and someone can have an easy-to-understand motivation without needing to explain a specific relationship that doesn't affect the story. Name-dropping multiple students in the school was irrelevant, and the one line about a main character being ace didn't matter at all beyond being a fun fact. It felt bad to have that as a throwaway. Lastly, I did not like Nina's speaking at all. We follow her across multiple ages throughout the story, and all but one follow the same cadence and sentence structure for speaking; this is especially jarring since that structure sounds like a prepared speech most of the time. It was not realistic ever, but especially not in the earlier years. I suppose you could argue that she did write down her long passages before doing videos, but it never sounds like words a teenager (nor someone younger) would say.
Used for 2o22 r/Fantasy Bingo (non-human protagonist, hard mode); also fits family matters (hard mode), shape-shifters (hard mode), weird ecology (hard mode), standalone (hard mode), non-linear time (hard mode), BIPOC author (hard mode).
I did have two big issues with the book, and I struggled on whether I'd give this 3.5 or 4 stars... I ultimately decided that, while annoying and very noticeable, the problem didn't take away so much from the many parts that were good. It bothered me how many unnecessary details were added in depth, almost as if the author wasn't sure how to make the world seem real without erroneous pieces of information. (Ironically, they did a good job without them already.) It's not important to explain every detail of the video-sharing app Nina uses, for example, and someone can have an easy-to-understand motivation without needing to explain a specific relationship that doesn't affect the story. Name-dropping multiple students in the school was irrelevant, and the one line about a main character being ace didn't matter at all beyond being a fun fact. It felt bad to have that as a throwaway. Lastly, I did not like Nina's speaking at all. We follow her across multiple ages throughout the story, and all but one follow the same cadence and sentence structure for speaking; this is especially jarring since that structure sounds like a prepared speech most of the time. It was not realistic ever, but especially not in the earlier years. I suppose you could argue that she did write down her long passages before doing videos, but it never sounds like words a teenager (nor someone younger) would say.
Used for 2o22 r/Fantasy Bingo (non-human protagonist, hard mode); also fits family matters (hard mode), shape-shifters (hard mode), weird ecology (hard mode), standalone (hard mode), non-linear time (hard mode), BIPOC author (hard mode).