April 2024: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Beware spoilers for the end of the novel. This is a copy-paste of my thoughts from the review of the book on Storygraph - only this time the font is bigger. ;) 

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A well-deserved children lit's classic! I had a blast reading it.

My only complaint is that I enjoyed it so much that I feel too guilty not to give it full five stars. If I were to be more objective, I would deduct half a star for two aspects of the ending that disappointed me:

   1. Every single friend of Dorothy's becoming a ruler feels lazy and far-fetched. Also, a bit disturbing once you sit to think about it a bit more.  It feels like the author was desperate to give his remaining Oz character A Purpose, to make them so occupied that they don't have the time to miss Dorothy too much once she inevitably leaves Oz - and he couldn't come up with anything else than becoming a ruler to fit these criteria.

And, goodness, nowhere does it seem more lazy and unsatisfying than in Tin Woodman's case. Tin Woodman becoming a ruler is the author's way of distracting Tin Woodman from his inevitable heartbreak when, after he reunites with his sweetheart, he discovers that she's not interested in marrying a man made entirely of tin. (Maybe they remain, respectfully, friends. Maybe she's too freaked out by Tin Woodman to continue any relationship with him. I don't think that she'll turn out to be a obsessed with tin General Grievous girlie but who knows? It sure would be sweet if she wanted him still despite him no longer possessing any flesh.) The very reason why Tin Woodman longed for a heart was to be able to love his sweetheart and reunite with her, yet we're supposed to believe that he would abandon all that and feel completely fullfilled by becoming a ruler of some people whom he barely even knows? Tin Woodman deserved better than this.

  2. Dorothy's arrival in Kansas feels cut too short. I would expand the final scene just a little bit more to give it more punch.

 

April 2024: I Hope This Doesn't Find You

 

Vague spoilers for the end of the novel. This is a copy-paste of my little vent in a review of the book on Storygraph - only this time the font is bigger. ;)

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It would've been a solid book hadn't the ending been so rushed. 

The school trip's ending was cut short for no good reason. Yes, we saw Sadie and Abigail make up and we know that they chatted about Julius for hours (details unknown), but it gives Abigail, Abigail's friendship with Sadie, Julius and Julius's growing relationship with Sadie a huge disservice when we stop at just that. These last chapters of the book should've been about cementing Abigail and Sadie's friendship (showing them move past the e-mails and be friends, with ALL the details), and fully establishing Julius and Sadie's relationship (officially becoming boyfriend & girlfriend, giving us at least a little taste of them navigating the chaos at school once their relationship becomes public). Especially the latter was sorely needed. For all the emotional impact of the confession scene, I found the execution of the relationship itself lackluster. Julius and Sadie should've got to talk about their feelings a bit more. The final e-mail would've made a lovely conclusion of the novel had it not been for the stage at which their relationship "concluded". As is, it didn't feel quite earned. I think that we didn't get enough Julius's POV for that. As a result, we don't have the space to truly grasp that he fell for Sadie first.

But frankly, the novel's biggest crime is the bit after the school trip about Sadie's brother getting recruited to the Hunters. I found it a very lazy and underwhelming way of dealing with Sadie's "sole provider" mindset. It was just too convenient, too lucky - and though people suffering from hardships definetely deserve miracles like that, in this novel it felt like wishful thinking made true in order to wrap the already happy ending with a huge bow and make it look even "happier" and more "perfect". In this case, though, it backfired spectacularly and made the whole book so much worse. It really put a solid dent in the realism of the novel. Also, Sadie's mom being so happy only because her children are happy? And explicitly telling Sadie to help out less and enjoy her life more? And we're supposed to be so happy about it? I'm sorry but is this the same extremely overworked Sadie's mom? It's all sweet in theory but it all crumbles literally after a second of critical thinking! Her mom cannot possibly make 24 hours last longer. Her mom is already working too much. The very reason why Sadie started helping out was because she was worried about her mom and wanted to ease her burden. These problems weren't exaggerated by Sadie. Sadie's mom wasn't leeching off her teenage daughter because she's too lazy to work herself, she simply didn't have much choice other than to accept Sadie's help (especially since she wasn't aware how Sadie was always lying about helping not being a problem) because she was THAT busy and exhausted! And yes, Sadie was the only person who could help her mom - we're told time and time again that Sadie's brother is useless when it comes to anything even remotely similar to household chores. Are we supposed to be happy that Sadie's mom will be even more likely to die from overworking now? WTF? The happy ending would be Sadie's brother stopping being such a leech and starting helping out at home and at the bakery so that the chores are split three ways and neither Sadie, nor their mother are so horribly overworked anymore. Honestly, it's ridiculous that for all the criticism of Sadie's brother that exists in the novel, courtesy of Sadie via her author, we don't get even a smidge of character growth for him.

Anyway, I really liked Abigail (and her parents from what we've heard about them). There wasn't enough of her in the novel, to be honest. If the author ends up writing an Abigail-centric sequel, I'll definetely read it, but anything else? Hard pass. This novel didn't leave me with THAT much faith in the author.