Review _Wicked Lovely_
Jun. 2nd, 2013 09:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dancingsingingCrossposted to Goodreads
This is a book my sister left lying around my house that I picked up on a whim. My sister, who is a high school teacher, always knows what's going on with the hot teenage novels--if it weren't for her, I would never have read Twilight (and say what you will about it, I'm glad to have read it just for the cultural reference). I see that between the time she left the book kicking around and now, it has become a giant-ass series with three hundred seventy-two books in it. Or something like that.
Anyway, I'm glad I didn't know that because it would have scared me away and this is a fun book. I kind of wish that Goodreads had more than one axis to rate books on. I mean, this book *totally* succeeds at what it's trying to do, but I don't want to give it five stars because it doesn't even compare to the other books I've rated that way in terms of literary quality and depth.
So, basically, the book has no depth. It challenges nothing, raises no difficult moral/ethical questions nor interesting new ideas.
What it does do well is great pacing, sympathizable characters, archetypal Cinderella stuff made fresh. And the faery stuff is really well-researched and fun. Also, it avoids the more nauseating aspects of some other books of its kind--there's no falling in love with someone creepy or abusive; there's no waiting around to be rescued. There is a little bit of the 'virginity is so special' thing, but it's softened by some nice dialogue and interior monologue and by a really awesome grandma character who represents more progressive perspectives on sex.
Upshot--nice read if you're tired and overworked and looking for yummy brain candy!
This is a book my sister left lying around my house that I picked up on a whim. My sister, who is a high school teacher, always knows what's going on with the hot teenage novels--if it weren't for her, I would never have read Twilight (and say what you will about it, I'm glad to have read it just for the cultural reference). I see that between the time she left the book kicking around and now, it has become a giant-ass series with three hundred seventy-two books in it. Or something like that.
Anyway, I'm glad I didn't know that because it would have scared me away and this is a fun book. I kind of wish that Goodreads had more than one axis to rate books on. I mean, this book *totally* succeeds at what it's trying to do, but I don't want to give it five stars because it doesn't even compare to the other books I've rated that way in terms of literary quality and depth.
So, basically, the book has no depth. It challenges nothing, raises no difficult moral/ethical questions nor interesting new ideas.
What it does do well is great pacing, sympathizable characters, archetypal Cinderella stuff made fresh. And the faery stuff is really well-researched and fun. Also, it avoids the more nauseating aspects of some other books of its kind--there's no falling in love with someone creepy or abusive; there's no waiting around to be rescued. There is a little bit of the 'virginity is so special' thing, but it's softened by some nice dialogue and interior monologue and by a really awesome grandma character who represents more progressive perspectives on sex.
Upshot--nice read if you're tired and overworked and looking for yummy brain candy!
