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A review by dandelionsteph
Cameron Battle and the Hidden Kingdoms by Jamar J. Perry
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
I found the use of "y'all" annoying for how often it was used, particularly by Aliyah early on in the book. This choice of nonstandard dialect really popped out in a book that otherwise used very few 'Southernisms'. Part of that is the fact that all the other characters are Chidani (basically Nigerian, if in a fantastical way), who don't use "y'all".
For comparison, in Onyeka and the Academy of the Sun, Onyeka (a British-Nigerian character) used only a few Britishisms, and I don't think she used them outside of a few words referring to objects (perhaps "crisps" instead of "potato chips/chips"). Every time the characters used "y'all", it in some sense felt affected or fake. They were from Atlanta, a major and modern city in Georgia, not some rural area. It's like having characters from the major city of Austin, Texas say 'howdy' at every opportunity. (We get it, they're from the South.)
I was disappointed that the bonded-griffin element was similar to bonded-dragon elements in other books, but the griffins (despite being built up in-universe) could not talk. Unlike Skandar and the Unicorn Thief, which was also a disappointing take on bonded creatures, the griffins didn't even have discernible personalities. If the griffins were going to basically act like normal horses that could fly and could be telepathically summoned, I wonder why they were given cool-sounding names and were given a distinctive bonded-creature worldbuilding convention.
There's too much telling-not-showing in this book, which is particularly egregious when it comes to the point of view. While the book uses the first-person perspective, I believe it would have been more enjoyable if written in the third-person. Unlike other first-person middle-grade fantasy novels, such as the Percy Jackson series, Cameron Battle doesn't have a clear and strong personality that would make the first-person point of view worthwhile. For the most part, the reader does not get to read his direct thoughts. For example,
"Pushing them away, I walked towards the dais, trying to ignore the pain. By now it felt like my skull was cracking in two. But I still continued. I placed both my hands on the dais and grasped the crown. The pain ceased as soon as I touched it."
On a sentence-by-sentence basis, the narrative is rarely riveting. I think it has something to do with sentence length not varying enough, not even in action sequences.
I'm disappointed that Cameron can't simply be best friends with Zion, but must be in a romantic relationship with him. (It's not confirmed - no one says "gay" or "bi" or "queer" or such - but the emotional intimacy, use of the word 'love', and physicality is clearly building up it, and the author specifically talks to queer black boys/men in the author's notes) Yes, there's a lot of a cultural backlog for LGBTQ+ relationship representation in media, which might be justification for the high density of queer relationships in children's media these days, but this also feeds into the trend of amatonormativity and the devaluation of friendship, even among children (I believe the protagonists are 12 or 13). Rick Riordan (and Mark Oushiro's) The Sun and the Star dealt with this better, although perhaps this isn't a fair comparison because the protagonists of that book had a lot more time to build up their relationships and identity "on-screen" (whereas this book's pre-plot background largely consists of saying Cameron and Zion knew each other since they were six).
For comparison, in Onyeka and the Academy of the Sun, Onyeka (a British-Nigerian character) used only a few Britishisms, and I don't think she used them outside of a few words referring to objects (perhaps "crisps" instead of "potato chips/chips"). Every time the characters used "y'all", it in some sense felt affected or fake. They were from Atlanta, a major and modern city in Georgia, not some rural area. It's like having characters from the major city of Austin, Texas say 'howdy' at every opportunity. (We get it, they're from the South.)
I was disappointed that the bonded-griffin element was similar to bonded-dragon elements in other books, but the griffins (despite being built up in-universe) could not talk. Unlike Skandar and the Unicorn Thief, which was also a disappointing take on bonded creatures, the griffins didn't even have discernible personalities. If the griffins were going to basically act like normal horses that could fly and could be telepathically summoned, I wonder why they were given cool-sounding names and were given a distinctive bonded-creature worldbuilding convention.
There's too much telling-not-showing in this book, which is particularly egregious when it comes to the point of view. While the book uses the first-person perspective, I believe it would have been more enjoyable if written in the third-person. Unlike other first-person middle-grade fantasy novels, such as the Percy Jackson series, Cameron Battle doesn't have a clear and strong personality that would make the first-person point of view worthwhile. For the most part, the reader does not get to read his direct thoughts. For example,
"Pushing them away, I walked towards the dais, trying to ignore the pain. By now it felt like my skull was cracking in two. But I still continued. I placed both my hands on the dais and grasped the crown. The pain ceased as soon as I touched it."
On a sentence-by-sentence basis, the narrative is rarely riveting. I think it has something to do with sentence length not varying enough, not even in action sequences.
I'm disappointed that Cameron can't simply be best friends with Zion, but must be in a romantic relationship with him. (It's not confirmed - no one says "gay" or "bi" or "queer" or such - but the emotional intimacy, use of the word 'love', and physicality is clearly building up it, and the author specifically talks to queer black boys/men in the author's notes) Yes, there's a lot of a cultural backlog for LGBTQ+ relationship representation in media, which might be justification for the high density of queer relationships in children's media these days, but this also feeds into the trend of amatonormativity and the devaluation of friendship, even among children (I believe the protagonists are 12 or 13). Rick Riordan (and Mark Oushiro's) The Sun and the Star dealt with this better, although perhaps this isn't a fair comparison because the protagonists of that book had a lot more time to build up their relationships and identity "on-screen" (whereas this book's pre-plot background largely consists of saying Cameron and Zion knew each other since they were six).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Slavery, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Racism
The details of the horrors of slavery are very vague, but this background detail pops up a lot, as it's so important to the conflict in the book.