A review by starryorbit12
Nancy Drew: The Palace of Wisdom by Kelly Thompson
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
My big issue is the how large the cast of characters is for how short the book is. No one gets any depth to them.
Nancy's Riverheight friends? Literally are introduced to never be scene on page again. One hacks some file for Nancy and the other texts her at the end. Neither really do anything for the story. If you cut them entirely, nothing fundamental changes or is broken in the story. And, it's simple enough to have another character hack the files or have Nancy's dad be the one to text at the end.
George's girlfriend is literally just there. Like, she is on page a lot but barely says or does anything. She pretty much exists for the paltry represention.
Considering how much the narrative invests in Joe/Bess and Nancy/Pete, I think the author just wants to be able to say that they have queer representation without actually caring about that representation at all.
Danica is a cardboard cut that just exists in the background of this story is has no real personality outside being George's girlfriend. Even the story seems confused at why she is there, all she gets is a question mark in her introduction.
The Hardy Boys feel there to prop up Nancy most of the time instead of their own distinctive characters that have the own separate, distinctive series where they are capable detectives in their own right.
Honestly, Bess and Pete are the only ones that do something for the story. Bess knows the drug. Their homebase is her house. She gets them into the party and gives them cover to investigate the back with worker positions. Bess Pete gets Nancy back to town, and his mother is the victim. He is the one to get Nancg out the whole and help her find the body.
Everyone else is kind of their and doesn't do much to progress the plot while also not getting much time to be fleshed out. Frankly, this story needs about another 50 pages to pace the mystery better and flesh the cast out. Like,
So much was missed in terms of world building. Like, Nancy's mom death is big thing for he and yet we don't even know what kind of accident is was, and it's just glossed over why of the fact that Nancy and her Bayport friends haven't spoken in 7 years or the fact that Hardy Boys just got back into town too.
It just feels like a good start but too superficial for me to get truly invested because their is no time be invested because the narrative is stretched too thin by all characters.
Nancy's Riverheight friends? Literally are introduced to never be scene on page again. One hacks some file for Nancy and the other texts her at the end. Neither really do anything for the story. If you cut them entirely, nothing fundamental changes or is broken in the story. And, it's simple enough to have another character hack the files or have Nancy's dad be the one to text at the end.
George's girlfriend is literally just there. Like, she is on page a lot but barely says or does anything. She pretty much exists for the paltry represention.
Considering how much the narrative invests in Joe/Bess and Nancy/Pete, I think the author just wants to be able to say that they have queer representation without actually caring about that representation at all.
Danica is a cardboard cut that just exists in the background of this story is has no real personality outside being George's girlfriend. Even the story seems confused at why she is there, all she gets is a question mark in her introduction.
The Hardy Boys feel there to prop up Nancy most of the time instead of their own distinctive characters that have the own separate, distinctive series where they are capable detectives in their own right.
Honestly, Bess and Pete are the only ones that do something for the story. Bess knows the drug. Their homebase is her house. She gets them into the party and gives them cover to investigate the back with worker positions. Bess
Spoiler
knows about the drug, the party, and spots the missing girl being taken. She also is able to record her own kidnapping.Everyone else is kind of their and doesn't do much to progress the plot while also not getting much time to be fleshed out. Frankly, this story needs about another 50 pages to pace the mystery better and flesh the cast out. Like,
Spoiler
the bad guy is literally just the one guy we meet during the investigation. It has to be him becausetheir are no other suspects. Outside of Nancy and her crew, the only named chracters we meet are mascot theft, a librarian, the guy who employeed the two of the victims, and patronizing cop. Can you guess who did it? Their isn't much mystery and the motive is just as boring as they knew to much.So much was missed in terms of world building. Like, Nancy's mom death is big thing for he and yet we don't even know what kind of accident is was, and it's just glossed over why of the fact that Nancy and her Bayport friends haven't spoken in 7 years or the fact that Hardy Boys just got back into town too.
It just feels like a good start but too superficial for me to get truly invested because their is no time be invested because the narrative is stretched too thin by all characters.