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A review by votesforwomen
The Orphan's Wish by Melanie Dickerson
2.0
So I made myself finish this. I did receive it in exchange for a review, but review was not required.
I'll be quite honest--I hated this book. I'm going to try to find some good things, but we'll see. XD
POSITIVES:
+The 1400s was kind of a cool setting! I didn't feel like it was utilized as much as it could have been, but that's an era I haven't read a ton of fiction from.
+Childhood friends to lovers is a trope I enjoy, so the fact that it was present (despite the fact that I wasn't thrilled with the way it was executed) was fun.
+Abu, while not a terribly interesting character, was cute.
NEGATIVES:
-Oh boy, where to start.
-For one thing there's the awkward fact that while this is ADVERTISED as an Aladdin retelling, other than the obvious fact that the male lead was named Aladdin and he had a little sidekick named Abu, I couldn't have told that for the life of me. I can kind of find some parallels? But for the most part they were not present at all.
-The characters were incredibly flat, and also insanely Mary-Sue and Gary-Stu-ish. The only word I can come up with to describe Aladdin is "perfect." Don't believe me? Take the word of the other characters for it. They probably called him that fifty times over the course of this novel. Aladdin is perfect. Kirstyn is beautiful. Abu is young. Michael is cruel. There's no depth to these characters, and it made it incredibly difficult to care about any of them. Eventually, I stopped trying.
-The writing style is uninspired, flat, and rank with "telling not showing." I'll concede that this is something I need to work on myself...I'm not always good at writing with showing and not telling. But in a published book by a famous author? I don't know. I never connected with the world, and I felt like the scenes that were supposed to be suspenseful were way too short and undetailed.
-On that note, I was never genuinely worried about the characters at all. So there's that.
-The world was simply never clear to me. Like, they were constantly talking about Aladdin being "King Midas with the golden touch" but when did that story originate? Was it around in the 1400s? I'm just not sure. And then there were some other things that maybe I simply wasn't picturing right...but again, it just didn't make sense.
-The dialogue. Oh, the dialogue. So cringey. I'm sorry. It was...sad, honestly.
In context: They are drinking water from a stream in the woods. They're like twelve.
Kirstyn: "It's refreshing. Try some."
Aladdin: "Good. Whoever lived here chose a favorable spot for fresh water."
This is just a random example. The book is full of dialogue like this, and I'm...just not a fan. Sorry. :/
-Then the sheer number of flashbacks to Aladdin and Kirstyn's childhood walks in the woods, where apparently all they ever did was talk about what good friends they were and how they never wanted this to change. I...don't know how accurate this is. Seems like they should have a lot more memories of chasing each other through a forest and swimming and playing games than of telling each other how much they love each other (JUST AS FRIENDS!!!!!) as little kids.
-The plot was kind of all over the place. I just....was there a plot, beyond Aladdin becoming successful? Besides the romance? I don't even know.
I'm going to give this book 2.5 stars, because I did finish it and I really tried to find a couple of positive things to say about it. But overall? I did not like this book. That doesn't mean I don't recommend it...this is more a matter of personal taste than anything, I think. But it does mean that I don't think I'll be reading anything more by this author in future. A pity...I had really hoped to like this one.
I'll be quite honest--I hated this book. I'm going to try to find some good things, but we'll see. XD
POSITIVES:
+The 1400s was kind of a cool setting! I didn't feel like it was utilized as much as it could have been, but that's an era I haven't read a ton of fiction from.
+Childhood friends to lovers is a trope I enjoy, so the fact that it was present (despite the fact that I wasn't thrilled with the way it was executed) was fun.
+Abu, while not a terribly interesting character, was cute.
NEGATIVES:
-Oh boy, where to start.
-For one thing there's the awkward fact that while this is ADVERTISED as an Aladdin retelling, other than the obvious fact that the male lead was named Aladdin and he had a little sidekick named Abu, I couldn't have told that for the life of me. I can kind of find some parallels? But for the most part they were not present at all.
-The characters were incredibly flat, and also insanely Mary-Sue and Gary-Stu-ish. The only word I can come up with to describe Aladdin is "perfect." Don't believe me? Take the word of the other characters for it. They probably called him that fifty times over the course of this novel. Aladdin is perfect. Kirstyn is beautiful. Abu is young. Michael is cruel. There's no depth to these characters, and it made it incredibly difficult to care about any of them. Eventually, I stopped trying.
-The writing style is uninspired, flat, and rank with "telling not showing." I'll concede that this is something I need to work on myself...I'm not always good at writing with showing and not telling. But in a published book by a famous author? I don't know. I never connected with the world, and I felt like the scenes that were supposed to be suspenseful were way too short and undetailed.
-On that note, I was never genuinely worried about the characters at all. So there's that.
-The world was simply never clear to me. Like, they were constantly talking about Aladdin being "King Midas with the golden touch" but when did that story originate? Was it around in the 1400s? I'm just not sure. And then there were some other things that maybe I simply wasn't picturing right...but again, it just didn't make sense.
-The dialogue. Oh, the dialogue. So cringey. I'm sorry. It was...sad, honestly.
In context: They are drinking water from a stream in the woods. They're like twelve.
Kirstyn: "It's refreshing. Try some."
Aladdin: "Good. Whoever lived here chose a favorable spot for fresh water."
This is just a random example. The book is full of dialogue like this, and I'm...just not a fan. Sorry. :/
-Then the sheer number of flashbacks to Aladdin and Kirstyn's childhood walks in the woods, where apparently all they ever did was talk about what good friends they were and how they never wanted this to change. I...don't know how accurate this is. Seems like they should have a lot more memories of chasing each other through a forest and swimming and playing games than of telling each other how much they love each other (JUST AS FRIENDS!!!!!) as little kids.
-The plot was kind of all over the place. I just....was there a plot, beyond Aladdin becoming successful? Besides the romance? I don't even know.
I'm going to give this book 2.5 stars, because I did finish it and I really tried to find a couple of positive things to say about it. But overall? I did not like this book. That doesn't mean I don't recommend it...this is more a matter of personal taste than anything, I think. But it does mean that I don't think I'll be reading anything more by this author in future. A pity...I had really hoped to like this one.