A review by jowillwrite
Sisters of Glass by Stephanie Hemphill
2.0
2.5 stars rounded down because I'm feeling crotchety.
I picked up this book because I was told it was written in verse.
Also because of the cover because I'm a fickle, fickle reader who only likes the pretty things in life.
To me, this book wasn't written in verse.
It was basically
normal prose which was
actually quite lovely to read
but just set out
in this way
so it looks
like people think
poetry should look
like.
Also,
there was so much dialogue
that many of the "poems"
consisted of
people just
having a
chin wag.
Setting your
words out
fancy
does not
a poem
make.
This may just by my interpretation, but I feel that each poem should convey some kind of emotion. I always feel that books written in verse are much more emotional than prose because they can zoom in on a particular feeling and really scrutinize it.
Maria's story had all these emotions - loss, betrayal, love, wonder, sadness, anxiety - that were practically begging for a poem to be written for each of them.
But alas.
I believe that each of the poems in a verse novel should, to some extent, be able to stand on their own. Even if you had no idea what was happening in the story you'd be able to get a glimpse into the emotions of the character and you'd want to read on.
I can't help but think if you read one of these poems without the others you'd just get completely confused.
I loved the setting (It made me want to go to Venice again!), loved the premise and it was refreshing to read a book set in a period of history that I've never read about before.
But I'm really disappointed, I thought it was going to be amazing.
:(
I received a copy of this book from the publishers.
I picked up this book because I was told it was written in verse.
Also because of the cover because I'm a fickle, fickle reader who only likes the pretty things in life.
To me, this book wasn't written in verse.
It was basically
normal prose which was
actually quite lovely to read
but just set out
in this way
so it looks
like people think
poetry should look
like.
Also,
there was so much dialogue
that many of the "poems"
consisted of
people just
having a
chin wag.
Setting your
words out
fancy
does not
a poem
make.
This may just by my interpretation, but I feel that each poem should convey some kind of emotion. I always feel that books written in verse are much more emotional than prose because they can zoom in on a particular feeling and really scrutinize it.
Maria's story had all these emotions - loss, betrayal, love, wonder, sadness, anxiety - that were practically begging for a poem to be written for each of them.
But alas.
I believe that each of the poems in a verse novel should, to some extent, be able to stand on their own. Even if you had no idea what was happening in the story you'd be able to get a glimpse into the emotions of the character and you'd want to read on.
I can't help but think if you read one of these poems without the others you'd just get completely confused.
I loved the setting (It made me want to go to Venice again!), loved the premise and it was refreshing to read a book set in a period of history that I've never read about before.
But I'm really disappointed, I thought it was going to be amazing.
:(
I received a copy of this book from the publishers.