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A review by amy415g
Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger
3.0
3.5/5
ahh yet another novel that i enjoyed, for the most part, but felt like something was missing? leaving me a bit conflicted about how i felt about it..
the things i liked:
- it's OwnVoices with the author and the main character(s) being lipan apache, and it shows from the writing!! i loved how much the plot and writing style were clearly intertwined with this identity
- the main character is ace!! had no idea about this going in but was pleasantly surprised about it. i like how it's treated so casually, it's only referenced a few times and very briefly but it's just part of ellie's character and i think that was so nice!
- ellie and jay's platonic friendship! Very rare to read a young adult novel without even a hint of romance and it felt refreshing
- ellie and her parents' relationship! again, Very rare to read a young adult (fantasy) novel where the protagonist has two living parents And a good relationship with them. i liked that they trusted and listened to ellie throughout the novel
- the setting!! i love urban fantasy and magical realism and i loved the way magic was intertwined into the world without it being a secret
- the mystery/plot, it wasn't the type of mystery that had me guessing and guessing at who did it and what was the motive, but i liked following along as the pieces were suddenly revealed
the things that didn't work for me:
- the characters.. while there were plenty of things that i liked about how the author chose to write their relationships and such (see above), i never really felt attached to any of them? not only did many of the side characters feel underdeveloped, but even ellie herself did at times
- the explanations of the magic. like i said, i liked how magic was intertwined into the world!! however, i found the explanations strangely confusing. at first i thought it was because i was listening as an audiobook and sometimes my attention drifts, but i read the second half of the book in print and found the climax/ending to be somewhat confusing rather than satisfying as well
i think in conclusion i liked this book and its premise but parts of the execution were lacking, i wish there had been more character-building and world-building to help support the plot because i think there was a lot of potential here but it just didn't quite work out for me!
ahh yet another novel that i enjoyed, for the most part, but felt like something was missing? leaving me a bit conflicted about how i felt about it..
the things i liked:
- it's OwnVoices with the author and the main character(s) being lipan apache, and it shows from the writing!! i loved how much the plot and writing style were clearly intertwined with this identity
- the main character is ace!! had no idea about this going in but was pleasantly surprised about it. i like how it's treated so casually, it's only referenced a few times and very briefly but it's just part of ellie's character and i think that was so nice!
- ellie and jay's platonic friendship! Very rare to read a young adult novel without even a hint of romance and it felt refreshing
- ellie and her parents' relationship! again, Very rare to read a young adult (fantasy) novel where the protagonist has two living parents And a good relationship with them. i liked that they trusted and listened to ellie throughout the novel
- the setting!! i love urban fantasy and magical realism and i loved the way magic was intertwined into the world without it being a secret
- the mystery/plot, it wasn't the type of mystery that had me guessing and guessing at who did it and what was the motive, but i liked following along as the pieces were suddenly revealed
the things that didn't work for me:
- the characters.. while there were plenty of things that i liked about how the author chose to write their relationships and such (see above), i never really felt attached to any of them? not only did many of the side characters feel underdeveloped, but even ellie herself did at times
- the explanations of the magic. like i said, i liked how magic was intertwined into the world!! however, i found the explanations strangely confusing. at first i thought it was because i was listening as an audiobook and sometimes my attention drifts, but i read the second half of the book in print and found the climax/ending to be somewhat confusing rather than satisfying as well
i think in conclusion i liked this book and its premise but parts of the execution were lacking, i wish there had been more character-building and world-building to help support the plot because i think there was a lot of potential here but it just didn't quite work out for me!