Anamaria Vere
This was good. Don't get me wrong: I enjoyed it. I thought the world-building was carried out agilely and the fantasy elements were intriguing. I found the plot to be well-constructed and well-paced.
But. This was not a great book for me and in spite of the many comparisons, I did not find it reached the level of The Name of the Wind, neither narratively nor artistically. I did not feel it brought anything innovative to the crowded boarding school fantasy sub-genre. And there were some awkward sentences that pulled me out of the reading experience.
The most interesting part of this world for me was the system of Will. I was fascinated by the moral ramifications surrounding the use of Will and I was eager to learn more about the practical workings of this system. But Vis, the protagonist, spends most of the book in a place where the use of Will is forbidden and so that element of the story remained insufficiently explored.
The other frustrating element for me was that although Vis faces many dangerous and difficult obstacles, after the first couple of these, I never felt any tension that he might fail. He seemed invincible and able to best his opponents with little difficulty, even when the odds were stacked against him. I feel Vis would have been a much more compelling character if he had only been a little lass perfect.
There were definitely parts I did like, though. In particular, I loved reading about the friendships that Vis formed and loved watching those friendships grow. I also felt great empathy for Vis when he was forced to confront his past and come to terms with both who he had been in the past and who he was now. The book was also great at keeping me guessing about the true motivations of the different characters and the different factions. I was never sure of anyone's true allegiances and really enjoyed the tense and mysterious ambience that uncertainty produced. Finally, I was completely caught off guard by the epilogue, in the very best way.
In the end, this was a good book, that I enjoyed reading, but was not a mind-blowing read for me. I am curious to know what happens next but will probably not rush to buy the next installment when it is published. Very solid 3 stars.
I liked this book well enough at the beginning. I felt for Theo and his mom. I enjoyed the tension of not knowing how/when his mom would die and the subsequent what-will-Theo-do-now turn his life takes once his mom is gone. But then Theo goes to Vegas, and then comes back to New York, and his hazy, blurred-together drug-use days lack the urgency and emotional connection of the first part of the book. (Maybe that was the point.)
We flash-forward, finally, and things pick up. I am interested again in what is happening with Theo. I am not sure if all is at it seems and this intrigues me. Boris returns and I am fascinated to see the Vegas days through his eyes. I realize Theo has not been a reliable narrator. I wonder why I am surprised.
The pace picks up even more and we suddenly find ourselves in a heist movie. Things move so quickly, I can barely turn the pages fast enough to keep up. The haziness returns however, and we have a long, surreal scene that seems to be moving inexorably towards the inevitable end that has been waiting for Theo all along. Until the knock on the door and a kind of unbelievable ending that maybe was the only possible ending because making all the wrong decisions and taking all the wrong paths has led Theo to exactly the right place. At this point, this book has somehow gone from a begrudgingly given, but honestly earned three stars, to a breathless, where-did-that-rollercoaster-come-from???? four stars.
And then we enter the final stretch wherein Theo, our emotionally stunted protagonist, finally experiences personal enlightenment and lays down the truths of the world, as he seems them. I don't agree with everything he says, but I felt all of it deeply (as clearly evidenced by this 1am scribbling). I underlined pretty much the entire last part of this book and as soon as I finished, I read the last part again. I questioned the tenets Theo believes in, agreeing with some wholeheartedly and completely rejecting others. Why are we each the way we are? Can we change who we are? Why do we sometimes desperately want the things that are worst for us? Is it better to live a “proper” life of quiet desperation or should we throw ourselves into the flames of our most closely cherished desires? Are we all just chained goldfinches? Finally, I come to the last page or so and this book does what I was least expecting. It switches from a minor chord to a major chord. Just a little major chord, but still, the hopeful notes are there. And just like that, we're at 5 stars.
I think I cried on literally every page of this book. But this is a book about a beautiful little boy dying, so that is not surprising. What is perhaps amazing is that every other page, through my tears, I laughed. This books contains all the emotions - it contains life and death and everything in between.
Also, this book made me feel less alone. Either a volcano has exploded all over your life and left a crater of devastation in its wake, or it hasn't. I raise a glass to all my explosion-surviving brethren.
I found this book enjoyable, but not great. Although the various story lines come together surprisingly and satisfyingly at the end, I wish the book had dedicated a little more time in the early chapters to developing those first characters we meet. The narrative and pacing of the first part of the book felt lumbering and disjointed to me; I enjoyed the second part much more. I did find the ruminations on pandemics very interesting.