This book supports why I am so averse to five star predictions; setting expectations too high can taint a reading experience. To be clear, I had an enjoyable time with this book and will keep my special edition on my shelves. However, this book pales in comparison to my all time favorite series Chorus of Dragons and Lyon’s previous standalone, The Sky on Fire. It’s hard to put into words exactly why this book did not match my expectations. Lyons
continues to create fantastic (and in this one, grotesque) magic systems although the rest of the building blocks lack the complexity I have grown accustomed to in her writing. I did engage with the main character but not in nearly the same way as the others from the aforementioned books. I hope that this is just a blip from Lyons since I continue to look forward to reading whatever else she writes.
Patel did a decent job with all the building blocks of this novel from the setting to the conflict to the development of the main character. Patel presents authentic conflict for the main character as she stays temporarily with her newly married sister so that she, the main character, can attend a prestigious summer camp. While there, Chandni witnesses her sister become overwhelmed by her new duties to this family and seemingly
sacrifice her own dreams. Chandni learns and grows from her mistakes as she confronts her sister – and from other events in the story. Patel, wisely, did not try to do too much in the narrative, keeping a middle grade reader from potentially becoming overwhelmed.
I absolutely loved this middle grade mystery. (Although no signs exist that the author intends to start a series, one can always hope.) The main character is a avid Agatha Christie super-fan and amateur detective. She craves mystery so much that it often interferes with her mother’s bed and breakfast which is also their home. The main character longs to reach the “storied” heights of her father’s investigative prowess to prove that mysteries
and crime do in fact exist in their small town, reason enough for him to move hack home. Then, a real mystery checks into the bed and breakfast which, through a series of events prompts the main character’s discovery that mystery solving and her father may not be everything she thought they were. I will definitely read from this author again.
I made the unfortunate mistake of reading this book far too close (within a day or two) of another book set in India with a smart middle grade age girl set on becoming a doctor. That effectively muddles many of the individual plot beats. Both books do an excellent job at representing life for a modern day Indian girl of middle grade age, something I can count on with Saeed and her interconnected books. (Amal from Amal Unbound makes a brief
appearance towards the end of this book.) In this book, Hafsa struggles with the composition of her family, especially after she discovers the real reason her unmarried aunt has continued to live with their family, a secret which ultimately comes to light with devastating consequences for her parents’ marriage. I appreciate that Saeed did not give Hafsa a perfect ending, keeping the resolution realistic with a touch of optimism.
Erin Entrada Kelly has immense talent as a writer across multiple genres, just not narrative nonfiction like this one. The subtitle (probably added by the publisher not Entrada Kelly) also did not help since it made the book appear at first glance like it would center Guerrero’s work as a spy during WWII rather than its actual focus of her life and her struggle with Hansen’s disease, more commonly known as leprosy. I struggled to
care about the subject of the biography as well as to place her historical significance. I think that Guerrero is a worthy subject just for a different author.
When I read a previous work by Harper, I lowered my expectations for this book. Thankfully, I enjoyed this one more than Bad Sister. That does not say much though. I still had the same primary issue of the main character being slightly unlikeable, realizing that they had a problem because they messed up so often and then magically resolving that problem by the end of the book without showing what or if they learned. I don’t think I will pick up more from this author, unfortunately.
Leave a Reply