A local friend, a middle school librarian, hyped this book up at our quarterly meeting. Thus, I went into this read with a higher expectation than I probably should have. I think that the author crafted a historical narrative that would likely engage middle school readers while not boring them with excessive details or length. However, for someone such as myself who has read far more historical works than the average person – to put it lightly – I found myself frequently disengaging with the text as I read. I do not find this to be a fault of the author or the narrative, simply my prior knowledge. Of the non-fiction books that we have to consider, I would definitely consider this one one of the best.
When I read the first two chapters, one from each of the main perspectives, I thought that this book would be an engaging contemporary. I appreciated the representation of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis in one of the main characters. This is something that affected one of my friends when we were around the same age as the characters. As I continued reading, however, I found myself struggling to differentiate between the two main perspectives. Yes, each chapter started off with the name of that character in which the chapter would be written. However, in the chapter itself, the voice of each of these characters read way too similarly. The author also included a boatload of other characters who were not developed at all. If I, as an adult reader who has read quite a bit, found this confusing, I can only imagine a middle schooler attempting to make their way through the narrative. Unfortunately, I do not recommend this book.
This was a well done middle grade fantasy debut. The author kept the plot tight while not sacrificing character development. This is something essential in middle grade works because reading stamina has to be built and has not for many kids extended to a point where many adult readers of fantasy can deal with overly long and detailed plots. In this book, the main character lives in a world where magic exists in a stratified form and consists of the ability of people to communicate with and adopt traits of different insects. A group of non-magical people also exists in this society. The main character belongs to the lowest of these magical groups, her family being affiliated with crickets. On top of that, she has struggled to make use of her magic so when her parents are summoned to the capital for the crowning of the princess to deal with a ghost swarm. – a swarm of undead insects that instant instantly age whatever they come into contact with decades (effectively killing them) – she takes this as her opportunity to sneak along and potentially find a metal working apprenticeship in the capital. The plot takes off from there.
This magical world runs on star stuff. The star stuff is highly regulated and controlled by the Empress and the governmental framework beneath her. People deal with this control, the ability to touch and use star stuff for a selected, few, and the underlying tension of a rebel group in a way reminiscent of an ostrich sticking its head in the sand. The author did a really good job developing this world and a main character who struggles with feelings of inadequacy when compare to all those around him as well as guilt for something that gradually gets revealed through the course of the book. As the book near the climax, I could see the pieces coming together in a satisfying way. I also, however, wondered if this book started a series. When I looked at the book on StoryGraph, and saw that it is in fact, the standalone, I wondered how the author would satisfactorily wrap up the narrative. Unfortunately, the author fumbled the ending, leaving way too much unanswered, or unsatisfactorily answered, which felt like a huge disappointment given how much I enjoyed the majority of the narrative.
I finished this book mainly because it did not take me very long. While the blurb describes this book as a middle grade book, I would hesitate to give it to many of my middle school students because it reads like a text geared for much younger students, perhaps fourth or fifth grade. This book lacked character development and any sort of plot complexity. It read as if the author attempted to take a historical incident, place a middle grade age girl into the story, and tell the events from her eyes without any of the techniques that come along with good fiction.
I really enjoyed getting to hear from Keira herself, having watched much of her second act as an avid fan in real time. While my running skills are nowhere near hers, I identified with her journey mainly because of age. (I also do not share the motherhood aspect along with those elite level running skills.) This memoir did not go into depths on a lot of subjects, but she did talk openly about her struggles throughout both her first and second act. If you are a fan of American female distance running, or distance running in general, I recommend this book.
Leave a Reply