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Book Review: Bones of Faerie by Janni Lee Simner
Title: Bones of Faerie (Bones of Faerie Book 1)
Author: Janni Lee Simner
Published: New York: Random House, 2009
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 247
Total Page Count: 137,045
Text Number: 402
Read Because: author and series recommended by![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rushthatspeaks, e-book borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: Some years after a war between humans and faeries devastated both worlds and left ours infected by strange and dangerous magics, Liza discovers that she's developing magic of her own. Bones of Faerie's triumph is its surreal post-apocalyptic landscape, a creative and evocative world where violent plants teem over the crumbling remains of modern civilization. Unfortunately, Simner's voice has a repetitive, staccato pacing which sunders this atmosphere just as it begins to build. The book's emotional register is also refreshing, albeit grim: rather than another love triangle, Liza's primary motivation is her troubled relationships with her parents and how they shape her understanding of the world. But Liza has the unremarkable first-person narration traditional to YA and a reticence (especially in the book's first half) which, however justified by her background, often reads as stubbornness tinged by stupidity. In short, a mixed bag: I wanted badly to like Bones of Faerie and admire much of what it does, but could never immerse myself in the book; it wants for a more fluid or varied voice, and more vivid characterization especially among Liza's peers. I don't recommend the book and won't continue the series (this works as a stand-alone), but it has potential.
Review posted here on Amazon.com.
Author: Janni Lee Simner
Published: New York: Random House, 2009
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 247
Total Page Count: 137,045
Text Number: 402
Read Because: author and series recommended by
rushthatspeaks, e-book borrowed from the Multnomah County LibraryReview: Some years after a war between humans and faeries devastated both worlds and left ours infected by strange and dangerous magics, Liza discovers that she's developing magic of her own. Bones of Faerie's triumph is its surreal post-apocalyptic landscape, a creative and evocative world where violent plants teem over the crumbling remains of modern civilization. Unfortunately, Simner's voice has a repetitive, staccato pacing which sunders this atmosphere just as it begins to build. The book's emotional register is also refreshing, albeit grim: rather than another love triangle, Liza's primary motivation is her troubled relationships with her parents and how they shape her understanding of the world. But Liza has the unremarkable first-person narration traditional to YA and a reticence (especially in the book's first half) which, however justified by her background, often reads as stubbornness tinged by stupidity. In short, a mixed bag: I wanted badly to like Bones of Faerie and admire much of what it does, but could never immerse myself in the book; it wants for a more fluid or varied voice, and more vivid characterization especially among Liza's peers. I don't recommend the book and won't continue the series (this works as a stand-alone), but it has potential.
Review posted here on Amazon.com.