A review by meeners
The Taste of Lightning by Kate Constable
4.0
"old-fashioned" is the word that came to mind as i read this, but i don't mean that in a pejorative sense - though in fact i find it difficult to pin down what it is i mean exactly. maybe it's simply relief at reading a young adult fantasy that isn't written in puerile first-person prose (the kind that magnifies every besotted flutter or agonized decision to intolerable proportions). or maybe it's because i first discovered kate constable years and years ago, and feel a nostalgic pleasure in encountering her again.
or maybe it's because i grew up on this kind of storytelling mode. in some ways, the taste of lightning is just like any other conventional fantasy on the surface - cluttered with improbable coincidences, awkward made-up fantasy names, western-medieval-ish settings, and idealized romance. but through sturdy, simple storytelling and a consistent acknowledgement of what's at stake for the characters (within the narrative, and as narrative), kate constable manages to make the reader (or this particular reader, anyhow) care about it all, with affection, and in earnest. more please!
or maybe it's because i grew up on this kind of storytelling mode. in some ways, the taste of lightning is just like any other conventional fantasy on the surface - cluttered with improbable coincidences, awkward made-up fantasy names, western-medieval-ish settings, and idealized romance. but through sturdy, simple storytelling and a consistent acknowledgement of what's at stake for the characters (within the narrative, and as narrative), kate constable manages to make the reader (or this particular reader, anyhow) care about it all, with affection, and in earnest. more please!