Yes, your prize-whore was tripping all over herself to get down to the library the very day the 2014 Printz Award winner was announced and thank goodness I'm fast because Midwinterblood was still buried there on the YA shelves, safe and sound and just waiting for me to snatch it up.
Marcus Sedgwick's fantasy novel is comprised of seven interlocking stories each set in a different time with different characters, each the reincarnation of the same two souls seeking to reunite with each other over the course of ten centuries. From an ancient pagan King and Queen to a mother and son to an artist and a child, each reincarnation leads you in a giant circle back to it's creepy beginning, set in the year 2073 where a journalist arrives on a remote island where inhabitants are rumored to live forever.
The premise is engaging. The execution is mediocre. The first problem I ran into was Sedgwick's tendency to try so hard to create mysteriously creepy that he ended up creating a lot of what the hell instead. There became so many unanswered loose ends that mysterious turned into annoying.
My second problem was that the overarching love story - the souls that were struggling over ten centuries to be reunited - never really rang true. None of the stories were long enough to develop that kind of deep, believable love. Not the kind of love that repeatedly calls for suicide pacts. It simply didn't ring true for me.
Which leads me to my final problem with the novel. I'm unsure of who categorized this book as Young Adult. I didn't read anything in this novel to indicate that it necessarily belonged on the Young Adult shelves versus the Adult fiction. I'm still scratching my head over this.
I didn't think this a bad novel by any means. In fact, I still love the premise. I simply think it could have been better written. Fleshing out the stories to make motivations believable and tying up all the loose ends for the readers would have made this mediocre novel - for me - an absolutely fantastic novel.
It's a good thing I'm not handing out Printz Awards, isn't it?
Well the premise made my eyes light up, that is for sure. Sort of how my eyes lit up when I read the premise of Winter's Tale. All Big and Epic in a rock-your-world kind of way. I'd love it if an author could actually deliver such a thing.
ReplyDeleteI promise to let you know if I find it if you'll promise the same.....
DeleteWhoever characterized it as YA was undoubtedly blinded by dollar signs in his or her eyes.
ReplyDeleteWinner winner chicken dinner
DeleteEven the premise doesn't appeal to me so I'll probably skip this one.
ReplyDeleteHa, well that certainly makes it easier to skip altogether, I'll admit!
DeleteYoung adult versus adult categorization is so arbitrary it's almost entirely meaningless. I suppose it can be argued that any book that is appropriate for young adults is YA, but then there's the whole marketing issue and it's all just stupid (I have many thoughts on this matter...).
ReplyDeleteI checked this one out of the library recently but just wasn't interested enough to actually read it. I'll probably give it a shot eventually, but my expectations are definitely fairly low, even with the Printz.
I was puzzled by this pick, I have to admit. I had very high expectations considering that it beat out Eleanor & Park. I'm nearly curious enough now to take a peek at the other Honor books, "Kingdom of Little Wounds," "Navigating Early," and "Maggot Moon" just to verify what I suspect: that all of the honor books might be better qualified for the actual award than this book was. Again, it wasn't a bad book, just not appropriate - in my lowly opinion - for the Printz Award.
Deleteessayez ce site Web designer répliques de bagages conseils supplémentaires Dolabuy Fendi voir le site de l'éditeur Dolabuy Prada
ReplyDeleteredirigé ici répliques de sacs ysl article www.dolabuy.ru consultez-le Vérifiez ceci
ReplyDelete