A review by tarryncurrentlyreading
Such A Secret Place by Cortney Pearson
3.0
*Thank you to Victory Editing for my copy of this book*
I wanted to like this book, I really did. And at times, I almost did. But not quite.
Such A Secret Place follows Ambry Csille, who lives in a world where her people had magic - until a spell took away their ability to cry, which stripped them of their core human emotions. This left them succeptible to having their magic essentially mined by another race, and that's exactly what happens. Everyone is basically a husk of a person who doesn't care about much of anything, while their world is being torn apart by evil-doers.
Ambry, our main character, doesn't have magic, and also can feel more than anyone around her - but she still can't cry. After sneaking out with her best friend one night she gets her hands on some illegal, magical tears. Then everything goes to hell. She's shot out into a journey of trying to keep the tears out of the hands of the bad guys, learning to tap into her magic and trying to find her brother who was taken, all while her society is on the cusp of a revolution... I'm not sure I got it.
The biggest and most difficult detractor to overcome in this story is the narration of Ambry Csille. She's supposed to be 16 but there's something about her that makes me picture a 12 year old. She's incredibly childish and immature and has absolutely no sense of logic. Most of her dialogue seems to just be her whining like an insolent child or bemoaning her many woes, mainly the ones that have to do with the sexy, mysterious and (of course) rude guy she's trekking around with.
The attempt at world building is admirable. The author really did try to create something interesting. There was just always this unfortunate disconnect - it was like we were dumped into the story's world with the impression that we should already be acclimated to how things are. But I never became acclimated. I really wanted to be, but I never felt like it all clicked together.
Then there's the major plot line of magical tears in a world where crying and many emotions have been taken away from people. It was so intriguing, but I remained confused throughout the story. I never really got it. I never understood or liked that tears had picked a teenage girl to protect them, that they needed protecting at all, or that they had some weird psychic bond with her and were able to inflict pain on people...it was just a little too absurd for my taste. Didn't gel for me.
One plus - I do plan on reading the sequel whenever it comes out. The story wasn't great for me but it was enough to get me to finish and leave me wondering what else could happen. My hopes are for some major character development for Ambry. I'd love to see her grow up, think things through more, and especially to stop letting a guy lead her around by her emotions. There's nothing that turns me off of a YA heroine more than one who has real shit to deal with but still manages to think about her confusing relationship every five minutes. Just, no.
I wanted to like this book, I really did. And at times, I almost did. But not quite.
Such A Secret Place follows Ambry Csille, who lives in a world where her people had magic - until a spell took away their ability to cry, which stripped them of their core human emotions. This left them succeptible to having their magic essentially mined by another race, and that's exactly what happens. Everyone is basically a husk of a person who doesn't care about much of anything, while their world is being torn apart by evil-doers.
Ambry, our main character, doesn't have magic, and also can feel more than anyone around her - but she still can't cry. After sneaking out with her best friend one night she gets her hands on some illegal, magical tears. Then everything goes to hell. She's shot out into a journey of trying to keep the tears out of the hands of the bad guys, learning to tap into her magic and trying to find her brother who was taken, all while her society is on the cusp of a revolution... I'm not sure I got it.
The biggest and most difficult detractor to overcome in this story is the narration of Ambry Csille. She's supposed to be 16 but there's something about her that makes me picture a 12 year old. She's incredibly childish and immature and has absolutely no sense of logic. Most of her dialogue seems to just be her whining like an insolent child or bemoaning her many woes, mainly the ones that have to do with the sexy, mysterious and (of course) rude guy she's trekking around with.
The attempt at world building is admirable. The author really did try to create something interesting. There was just always this unfortunate disconnect - it was like we were dumped into the story's world with the impression that we should already be acclimated to how things are. But I never became acclimated. I really wanted to be, but I never felt like it all clicked together.
Then there's the major plot line of magical tears in a world where crying and many emotions have been taken away from people. It was so intriguing, but I remained confused throughout the story. I never really got it. I never understood or liked that tears had picked a teenage girl to protect them, that they needed protecting at all, or that they had some weird psychic bond with her and were able to inflict pain on people...it was just a little too absurd for my taste. Didn't gel for me.
One plus - I do plan on reading the sequel whenever it comes out. The story wasn't great for me but it was enough to get me to finish and leave me wondering what else could happen. My hopes are for some major character development for Ambry. I'd love to see her grow up, think things through more, and especially to stop letting a guy lead her around by her emotions. There's nothing that turns me off of a YA heroine more than one who has real shit to deal with but still manages to think about her confusing relationship every five minutes. Just, no.