I'm just going to tell you up front that I didn't really like this one. It seemed like the author was trying to write it in an archaic style, but ended up just making everyone sound weird. Also, the characters weren't very likeable; I kept wanting to slap all but one of them.
Speaking of the characters, I've come up with a quote that describes each of them. None of the characters in question actually said any of this, but they may as well have.
Grayling: "why does it have to be meeeeeeeee i just want to go back home and not have to do this but also i will take charge because nobody else is doing it"
Auld Nancy: "i am older than you and therefore you should do what i say. also have i mentioned i am very old. and i can do weather magic except when i can't."
Desdemona Cork: "i am very pretty. give me things."
Pansy: "yes yes i am very cool and i want to learn magic and i am totally not super bad at everything you should trust me on this definitely." Alternative quote: *sulks*
Sylvanus: "i am most definitely awesome at magic, and in fact i teach magic. i can't really do much of anything with the magic i am most definitely awesome at, though."
the guy whose name I forgot: "yeah i'm just kind of here. i make paper. that is literally my only defining trait." (This is the guy who I didn't want to slap, because I kept forgetting he existed.)
Yeah, that might have had something to do with my opinion of this book. The plot is something about an evil creature showing up at the house of every magic-user in... some area, I'm not sure if this affected the whole world or just medieval not!England. Then it set the houses on fire, stole all the spellbooks, and turned everyone who owned a spellbook into trees. The transformation takes a while to work, which gives Grayling's mom time to tell her how to go about fixing things.
And, yeah, that's basically the whole story right there.
Were this a videogame, I'd rate it: E10+ for some scary bits.
I'm going to give this book 2 stars. It's not terrible enough to get 1, but... it also isn't very good. At least I finally made good on my repeated pledges to read some worse books in order to get some variety in the ratings!
(Endnote: The words on the cover are swoopy enough that I thought the book was titled "Gravling's Song" instead, because my mind interpreted the Y's tail as just another flourish.)
IT'S almost refreshing to see you find a book that you don't really like = that rates a 2. I really think it's because you are able to tell if a book is not too great when in the library, so you just don't bother to check it out??? Am i right? -Grammy
ReplyDeleteI think you're right. Often I'll just pick up a book, read the synopsis, and decide "nope, that's not for me".
DeleteThe problem is... Gravling's Song would be such a cool title. Makes me wonder what a gravling is. Graveling? Something born in a grave? A small grave? Or gravelling -- a thing made of gravel? All kinds of possibilities.
ReplyDeleteGrayling's Song is so dull by comparison.
Yup.
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