LRRC Week 23
I know we've been in June since last week but time is fake and goddamn it's June already, huh??? Also, in my defence, I often read ahead and write these posts a little bit early and then schedule them. Shh.
#45: THE UNSPOKEN NAME by A.K. Larkwood
I feel like I've been waiting for this book from the library for EVER, and you know what, it didn't disappoint!
I think the standout element of this story, although it's all very good, is the characters. They all feel fully realized and developed, and I was interested in all of them, even the antagonists, who we see quite a bit. I was invested in their storylines, and I wanted to see how they progressed and hoped that they would succeed, which is always a good sign in a story.
I also thought that the worldbuilding was really fun and interesting. I've been playing a lot of Breath of the Wild lately, because what else am I gonna do in lockdown, and a lot of the scenes of the characters travelling reminded me of walking through that world, which was really fun. The ideas of sometimes dilapidated temples and stuff were fascinating.
Also, lesbians! That's always fun!
Really the only complaint I have is that early in the novel, there's a giant snake, and she's probably the best character in the novel partially by virtue of being a giant snake, and she does not reappear. More giant snakes please.
#46: THE VANISHING STAIR by Maureen Johnson
If you're wondering why this book so long after the first, it's because there was a really absurdly long wait for the ebook at the library. Not all the books in the series, just this one, for some bizarre reason.
Anyway, I don't really know what to think about this book. On one hand, it's written snappily, and I was interested enough in the murders that I read it quickly in order to gain more information. On the other hand...everything else about it.
I continue to be frustrated by the lack of closure in either the first or the second; I feel like, if there's going to be more than one mystery, maybe only use one of them for the ongoing meta-plot? Like, I don't know, is it too much to demand SOME answers? I guess to be fair, this book did deliver on the "some answers" part, but oddly not in the ways I was expecting.
The other thing that frustrates me, in this book especially, is the overly manufactured drama. The characters withhold information for no damn reason and then get mad at each other for, uh, /checks notes/ actually I have no idea why they were mad at each other. For withholding the information? Which they did for some reason?? Even though it LITERALLY doesn't matter???
Also, a major pet peeve of mine is when I feel that a book is lying to me, and I really was starting to feel that towards the end. Maybe it's just because it's been a little while since the first book, but when characters fondly reminisced about being friends with a character I only remember them being annoyed by, I found it a bit hard to stomach. None of the characters feel like real people, they feel like cut-outs, and it really started to grate on me.
Oh, and the other thing, and this is a MILD SPOILER, but they reveal the origins of the Truly, Devious letter in this and it feels like the biggest cop out of all time. If you're going to build a franchise around a gimmick like that, it's a little odd to blow it all up not long after. Some of the reveals are kind of interesting and I can guess where this all is going, and I'm sort of vaguely interested in that, but damn. I guess maybe it's making a point about real true crime stuff, and how sensational things like that are usually fiction? I don't know, maybe this will resolve itself well.
Also I continue to be confounded by the romance angle, and I can't tell if that's me being an ace lesbian or the writing just failing on that. I don't understand why the main character is attracted to her love interest, besides some vague notion about "teenage hormones" that often rings really false. Does the main character know that she can like, choose things? That hormones don't actually force you to do anything? Ugh.
Anyway, I'll be reading the next installment because I'm curious but this book frustrated me.
NEXT WEEK'S AGENDA:
#47: The Hand on the Wall by Maureen Johnson
#48: The Obsidian Tower by Melissa Caruso