First, it was great seeing a diverse cast of characters. Not only are they friends but the three of them also work together to overcome adversity. This compelling urban fantasy young adult novel is brimming with historic details and loaded with suspense. The interaction between the characters is realistic, even if the bird is fantasy. Although the story was a bit short for my taste, the author did tie up all loose ends. Unfortunate for this reader, the ending was too rushed but for young adults, who the novel is geared for, it may be just right. If you're looking for a young adult fantasy novel, pick up Ship of Souls! A quick entertaining read that I'm confident most young readers will enjoy.
This was a well-intentioned novel with a decently evocative sense of place that I found unfortunately too heavy-handed to be enjoyable to read.
The three main characters are the sort I wish there were more of in fantasy -- non-white characters who are centered in the narrative and who are clearly shaped by their race but not entirely defined by it. Unfortunately, they are never given the room to come to life. We are given the information encapsulated in the jacket description, and one or two offhand statements that begin the process of humanizing those descriptions (D giving up on dreams of college because his foster mother is unlikely to pay for it; Hakeem trying to figure out how to integrate his faith into his day-to-day life; Nyla's alternately manipulative and supportive relationship with her stepmother), but then the entire rest of the novel is spent developing one of the clunkiest love triangles I have ever had the displeasure of reading.
The setting was similarly disappointing -- there was just enough that piqued my interest for me to know that Elliott had a potentially fascinating world built up in her head, but somehow it never quite translated to the page.
But the element I found most cringe-worthy, that made the book nearly unreadable to me even at 124 pages, was the plot itself -- the magical bird with a glorious mission only D can complete. That was handled with all the grace of a Saturday morning superhero cartoon. Here is a representative sample of the bird's dialogue:
"It's a long story, and I don't have the strength to tell it all tonight. I can, however, share some of my history."
"You have endured much for one so young."
"You should rest now. You'll need your strength for the task we must undertake."
"When it is time, all will be revealed."
Just absolutely the worst sort of not at all informative, vaguely mystical claptrap that always seems to come out of the mouths of poorly realized magical mentors in programs aimed at five year olds. The dialogue was so trite, in fact, that I was kind of hoping that the bird would turn out to be evil, manipulating the vulnerable, newly orphaned and unsure D with the things little kids want to hear. But, unfortunately, the bird was played entirely straight.
The second half of the book was a series of action sequences that, while not tremendously thrilling, were always clear about who was doing what and why. But overall, this felt like a novel that would have been stronger with significantly more space for the non-fantastical aspects of character and world-building, and needed an entire rewrite of the fantasy plot to remove the cliched dynamics and dialogue.
The three main characters are the sort I wish there were more of in fantasy -- non-white characters who are centered in the narrative and who are clearly shaped by their race but not entirely defined by it. Unfortunately, they are never given the room to come to life. We are given the information encapsulated in the jacket description, and one or two offhand statements that begin the process of humanizing those descriptions (D giving up on dreams of college because his foster mother is unlikely to pay for it; Hakeem trying to figure out how to integrate his faith into his day-to-day life; Nyla's alternately manipulative and supportive relationship with her stepmother), but then the entire rest of the novel is spent developing one of the clunkiest love triangles I have ever had the displeasure of reading.
The setting was similarly disappointing -- there was just enough that piqued my interest for me to know that Elliott had a potentially fascinating world built up in her head, but somehow it never quite translated to the page.
But the element I found most cringe-worthy, that made the book nearly unreadable to me even at 124 pages, was the plot itself -- the magical bird with a glorious mission only D can complete. That was handled with all the grace of a Saturday morning superhero cartoon. Here is a representative sample of the bird's dialogue:
"It's a long story, and I don't have the strength to tell it all tonight. I can, however, share some of my history."
"You have endured much for one so young."
"You should rest now. You'll need your strength for the task we must undertake."
"When it is time, all will be revealed."
Just absolutely the worst sort of not at all informative, vaguely mystical claptrap that always seems to come out of the mouths of poorly realized magical mentors in programs aimed at five year olds. The dialogue was so trite, in fact, that I was kind of hoping that the bird would turn out to be evil, manipulating the vulnerable, newly orphaned and unsure D with the things little kids want to hear. But, unfortunately, the bird was played entirely straight.
The second half of the book was a series of action sequences that, while not tremendously thrilling, were always clear about who was doing what and why. But overall, this felt like a novel that would have been stronger with significantly more space for the non-fantastical aspects of character and world-building, and needed an entire rewrite of the fantasy plot to remove the cliched dynamics and dialogue.
Summary: D's mother has passed away, leaving him an orphan. Luckily, D is very intelligent from being home schooled as a child, so he is placed into foster care quickly. D and his foster mother get along very well. He is on his best behavior, and he does enjoy being with her. However, his life changes slightly when a new baby comes into her care. D is left to his own devices a bit more and has more freedom. At school, D offers to help one of the basketball stars, Hakeem, in math at the library. After his initial tutoring session, there is a small kinship formed between the two of them. Then, the popular hot girl, Nyla, asks D to sit with her group at lunch. She finds out that D is interested in birds, so she invites herself along on a bird watching expedition. After such a busy day, D goes to the park on his way home. While there, he finds a bird that has been trapped. He sets her free and finds out that this is no ordinary bird. This bird speaks to him and says that she is from another universe and D is her host. The next day, Hakeem, Nyla, and D go on their bird watching excursion. This seemingly innocent adventure turns perilous when beings from another realm try to capture them and D's bird.
My thoughts: This was interesting and had some historical aspects that were fun to read about. I enjoyed the budding friendship, and the general plot line of the book. I felt that it was lacking a lot of description though. The characters never really came alive to me because I didn't have any real back story on any of them, including D. There is not a lot of development that makes you feel for his loss or gain of two friends. Even the adventure of otherworldly beings was glanced over. I kept wanting to know more. I was craving details and never really getting them. This may have been by design because the novel is meant for a young audience, but I've read several middle grade novels that did not leave me feeling this way. I gave the story to one of my reluctant readers because it is fairly short, but he did not read much past the first ten pages before he told me that it was boring and went to find another book. I love the premise, but wish that I didn't leave feeling like I didn't care one way or the other about the characters and situations.
My thoughts: This was interesting and had some historical aspects that were fun to read about. I enjoyed the budding friendship, and the general plot line of the book. I felt that it was lacking a lot of description though. The characters never really came alive to me because I didn't have any real back story on any of them, including D. There is not a lot of development that makes you feel for his loss or gain of two friends. Even the adventure of otherworldly beings was glanced over. I kept wanting to know more. I was craving details and never really getting them. This may have been by design because the novel is meant for a young audience, but I've read several middle grade novels that did not leave me feeling this way. I gave the story to one of my reluctant readers because it is fairly short, but he did not read much past the first ten pages before he told me that it was boring and went to find another book. I love the premise, but wish that I didn't leave feeling like I didn't care one way or the other about the characters and situations.
