Hello.
Umm . . . sorry for disappearing. School started and I felt like blogging was just too much on top of that, but I've been reading so much good YA, I just need to give you a wordsplat. I just made that up because it sounds nicer than "word vomit", or some other such gross phrase.
Okay, so, Tess of the Road.
Around this time last year, I read the Seraphina books and loved them, so when I saw that Rachel Hartman had a new book out, I had to read it! And it did not disappoint. Here are my thoughts:
Pros:
👢 If you read the book you will know why I'm using boots for bullet points.
👢 The writing! was! fabulous!
👢 Tess was such an amazing character. For one, she's a mess. I just really liked that. You always read about how characters should be flawed, and we look for flawed characters, but I don't think I've ever come across a character in YA who's quite as flawed as Tess is. *Spoilers ahead* For one thing, at the beginning of the book she's a budding alcoholic, she's already had an illegitimate baby, she's selfish, and she's insecure. *Okay, I think that's all the spoilers for now.*
👢 The rest of the cast was great too. Glisselda is the best.
👢 I loved seeing Seraphina through Tess's eyes.
👢 Rachel Hartman really delved into some mature themes, like prostitution, which I actually really appreciated. She didn't describe anything gratuitously but she did take a good long look at prostitution and sex outside of marriage. That being said . . .
Cons:
👢 In several places the book got very vulgar, which I did not appreciate.
👢 It . . . was . . . so . . . long. Well, only around 500 pages, but near the end it felt a bit weighty.
👢 One reason it felt weighty was that there were so many characters. And all of them were amazing, because this is Rachel Hartman, but still . . . it was a little overwhelming.
*Spoiler*
👢 TESS, WHY DID YOU GO AND DO THAT THING AT THE END WITH JOSQUIN?
*End of spoiler*
👢 I did not agree with all the conclusions at the end. As I've mentioned before on my blog, I'm a Christian, so I have very definite opinions in the areas Rachel Hartman covered, but what I appreciated so much about the book was that 1) it didn't shy away from tackling hard themes and 2) it made me examine my opinions and think more deeply about what I truly believe.
So those are my thoughts! I'll probably think of twenty-seven more the instant I click "Publish."
Have you read Tess of the Road, or are you planning to? What did you think? Please comment!!!
Umm . . . sorry for disappearing. School started and I felt like blogging was just too much on top of that, but I've been reading so much good YA, I just need to give you a wordsplat. I just made that up because it sounds nicer than "word vomit", or some other such gross phrase.
Okay, so, Tess of the Road.
Around this time last year, I read the Seraphina books and loved them, so when I saw that Rachel Hartman had a new book out, I had to read it! And it did not disappoint. Here are my thoughts:
Pros:
👢 If you read the book you will know why I'm using boots for bullet points.
👢 The writing! was! fabulous!
👢 Tess was such an amazing character. For one, she's a mess. I just really liked that. You always read about how characters should be flawed, and we look for flawed characters, but I don't think I've ever come across a character in YA who's quite as flawed as Tess is. *Spoilers ahead* For one thing, at the beginning of the book she's a budding alcoholic, she's already had an illegitimate baby, she's selfish, and she's insecure. *Okay, I think that's all the spoilers for now.*
👢 The rest of the cast was great too. Glisselda is the best.
👢 I loved seeing Seraphina through Tess's eyes.
👢 Rachel Hartman really delved into some mature themes, like prostitution, which I actually really appreciated. She didn't describe anything gratuitously but she did take a good long look at prostitution and sex outside of marriage. That being said . . .
Cons:
👢 In several places the book got very vulgar, which I did not appreciate.
👢 It . . . was . . . so . . . long. Well, only around 500 pages, but near the end it felt a bit weighty.
👢 One reason it felt weighty was that there were so many characters. And all of them were amazing, because this is Rachel Hartman, but still . . . it was a little overwhelming.
*Spoiler*
👢 TESS, WHY DID YOU GO AND DO THAT THING AT THE END WITH JOSQUIN?
*End of spoiler*
👢 I did not agree with all the conclusions at the end. As I've mentioned before on my blog, I'm a Christian, so I have very definite opinions in the areas Rachel Hartman covered, but what I appreciated so much about the book was that 1) it didn't shy away from tackling hard themes and 2) it made me examine my opinions and think more deeply about what I truly believe.
So those are my thoughts! I'll probably think of twenty-seven more the instant I click "Publish."
Have you read Tess of the Road, or are you planning to? What did you think? Please comment!!!
Oh I'm glad you liked this one! I confess it's been SO long since I read Seraphina that when I went to read this I kind of had forgotten everything that happened in Seraphina's book.😂But still! I loved Tess and loved that it was a fantasy that was also tackling like mental illness and PTSD and my heart broke for how horribly she'd been abused omg. But it was really slow eek. I did drag for me a bit, I think? But overall it was a good one!! I LOVE DRAGONS.
ReplyDeleteYes, it did drag a leetle, but overall it was fantastic.
DeleteWow, I totally forgot to mention quigutl!! (I love quigutl. Dragons are cool too.)