A review by woolfian
The Narrows by m. craig

3.0

This was a tough one for me to review. The first 80% of the book was a solid 4-4.5 stars for me. I loved the authenticity of the characters, the world building, and the relatable way the author handled a queer coming-of-age (and all of the anxiety and naivete that entails). But the the last 20% was such an about-face in pacing that it didn't even feel like the same book. Characters stopped acting like themselves, a "past love" gets thrown in the mix in the last few pages, the main (formerly wallflower) character suddenly helps set the world on fire and becomes a pirate....it's just not at all in keeping with the emphasis on character development and relationships I read in the first 3/4 of the book. It was almost like the author got to a point and just...gave up. And it was a wicked bummer. That said, I liked it enough to give the next book a shot.