The writing is masterful and shows that the author knows exactly how to deal with characterization and how to evoke the emotions she desires in the reader at the given moment. I quite appreciated the fairy-tale-esque aspects being acknowledged but not dominating the novel, i.e. not letting building of that tone take on more importance than such things as interesting characters and story (*cough Night Circus*). It is beautiful and lyrical yet quickly adjusting to whatever genre the scene most fits at the moment; I learned to appreciate such grace from Buffy. As with Buffy I shall eagerly await the next installment by a wonderful writer.
An issue I do have, though, is the storytelling. It’s far above bad, or even average, but the first quarter and probably the first half moves at a breathtaking pace when appropriate while other times dwelling on crucial establishing exposition (which feels too natural to be exposition-y) to make the reader care about what happens to the characters and what the answers to the heroine’s questions are. Meanwhile the second half doesn’t work quite as well. The mythos about the other world is put together well but the buildup/telling of it takes a long freaking time, too long in my opinion. Regardless of how I felt about the content, the very fact that the back end feels too long shows that my attention waned…since it’s pretty much comprised of flashbackstory slash twu luv building.
I mean, I’m all for true love, but if I wanted to read Twilight I would watch the Taylor Lautner version (as Stephanie Meyer is the only author I can think of that I disdain more than Jane Austen). Almost nothing actually happens in the present in the second half. It feels incongruous, and while Karou’s discovery of who she really is (through the telling of the story rather than, you know, a hero’s journey or whatnot) matters quite a bit to the narrative, it really could have been shorter and the tone in these chapters doesn’t really match what comes earlier in both content and quality. I was still more or less hanging on every word because Taylor’s writing remains great, but I couldn’t bring myself to care all that much about these events that came before. And usually when it comes to fiction (either in books or onscreen) I’m the type who’s like “OMG Backstory, Yes!” Perhaps the payoff would have been greater if Karou had done more to earn the unlocking of her past, or the author had had more exciting events happen in the second half so that Karou’s past could feel more revelatory rather than more of an extended break from action. I admit though that it serves well in making the very end immensely and believably heartbreaking.
Also, the beginning made it seem more like the book would revolve around wishes and fallen angels, when neither concept is nearly as crucial or intriguing after the first quarter or so of narrative. Hopefully both of these take more prominence in later installments because I think Taylor can continue the magic she does with them there. Based on the ending of the book how prominent will depend largely on what Karou does. She’s my favorite kind of protagonist, a female with many skills allowing her to be her own hero thus promising further adventures in which she would realistically be able to save the world rather than laying around damseling. She’s complex and flawed – her reckless curiosity leaves a fairly high level of fallout and when she criticizes herself it’s from self-awareness, contrasting with certain other books’ flat protagonists with BS-y aspects that exist only to make them not look like the Mary Sues that they are. But her interactions with her friends, her likely soulmate, and especially her family (She admits herself she would likely choose her family over true love.) show how loving and great she is with them, and how worthy she is of their – and theoretically eventually the readers’ – love.
4.5/5
