ILLYRIA was far from what I expected. I wanted something slim yet fulfilling, with a magic that is solidly grounded in reality. Instead, I felt no connection to the characters, and felt like the author was trying to go for mood instead of engagement, with the end result that neither was accomplished.
Content aside (because there have been other books written about incest), how is ILLYRIA a YA book? It reads like the work of an adult author who chose to write about teenaged characters without any real consideration for the emotions that teenagers may feel. Madeleine and Rogans togetherness lacked actual affection, both in the way Rogan treated Madeleine and the way Madeleine narrated their relationship with an old-woman-at-her-confessional manner. Characters spoke to one another with no real purpose behind their conversations exceptwell, in my opinion, except to fill up the pages, to give off a mysterious vibe at their ambiguous feelings and statements. And I hate hate hate when things in stories only appear for the purpose of accomplishing somethingin this case, the authors unrealized intention of creating an eerie yet compelling atmosphere throughout the novella.
ILLYRIA could have been an interesting, subtly magical, and deeply unsettling story. I think, however, that it was definitely marketed to the wrong audience, and thus I cant commend it as a work of YA literature.
Content aside (because there have been other books written about incest), how is ILLYRIA a YA book? It reads like the work of an adult author who chose to write about teenaged characters without any real consideration for the emotions that teenagers may feel. Madeleine and Rogans togetherness lacked actual affection, both in the way Rogan treated Madeleine and the way Madeleine narrated their relationship with an old-woman-at-her-confessional manner. Characters spoke to one another with no real purpose behind their conversations exceptwell, in my opinion, except to fill up the pages, to give off a mysterious vibe at their ambiguous feelings and statements. And I hate hate hate when things in stories only appear for the purpose of accomplishing somethingin this case, the authors unrealized intention of creating an eerie yet compelling atmosphere throughout the novella.
ILLYRIA could have been an interesting, subtly magical, and deeply unsettling story. I think, however, that it was definitely marketed to the wrong audience, and thus I cant commend it as a work of YA literature.
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