Frey by Melissa Wright

Rating

What's my name again, what's my age again.

Synopsis Frey feels like an elephant in a world of gazelles. She can't do magic, is clumsy and her ears are short and stumpy. Her aunt beats her and is a bitter woman. Her life is miserable until she does one small spell. But even that doesn't go as planned; her world is turned upside down. She's hunted for practicing dark magic, her only friend keeps secrets, and a new stranger makes her question her very existence. And it doesn't help that something big seems to be riding on her, but no one will tell her what it is. She is clueless until she finds a book that holds the key to regaining all that was taken from her. Will Frey find her destiny or will she die in the process?

Characters Everyone is realistic, but don't really come off as likeable. There are no heroes just people looking out for their own self interests and acting on their own impulses. Maybe later in the saga Frey beomes likeable, but in this book she's playing catch up and is regaining her memories. Because of the nature of Frey's amnesia, most the characters in this book are playing roles and are secretive so, that makes it hard to get a true sense of them as a person.

World Fantasy where elves are the dominate species, humans are mythic and primitive, long dresses and castles are the norm. It was established enough to further the story, but none of the characters were interested in academics--history, culture, botany, mythology, politics, religion, or anything that would give the reader fun facts about the world. The reader learns about magic, a bit about Frey's personal history and that's about it.

Pacing The pacing was stutter stop, the story would get going and be interesting then something would happen and it would grind to a sudden painful halt, something would almost happen, and then the story would resume as if nothing happened.

Writing Written in the first person with a change in view points closer to the climax. Everything was very skewed towards the narrators, but they weren't particularly insightful or engaging. I felt sorry for minor characters, and was intrigued and frustrated by how limited the story was. There was a major problem with tell not show, but that was mainly due to the constraints the author put on the vehicles she used to tell her story.

Plot Amnesia turns into lost heir. The story cut off at the climax so, it was all about the process of Frey learning who she is, and not showing what she does with that knowledge or how that changes her. All the reader knows at the end is that she knows who she is, but not what it means to the story.

The GoodIt's free on Amazon for Kindle right now. It was an unusual take on an elven world, the main character wasn't human and it made for a refreshing change. There were aspects that could have been delved into deeper: dark magic, castle life, elven political system, elven aristocracy, and what happened before Frey was born. All of these topics could have made the story richer and were forgone in favor of diving into the head of two teenagers.

The Bad It doesn't state outright that Frey is a "teenager", but she still lives with her aunt and is undertaking lessons. It doesn't state outright that the other perspective is also young but she is unmarried, lives with her father, and has to sneak out of the castle. An argument could be made for an adult's perspective versus a child's. Adults have responsibilities even if they don't have an occupation, whereas, a child can get away with blowing off adult expectations and constraints. Adults have interests and knowledge that they have developed over the years, or at least as characters they should. Children can be very learned as well, but it more acceptable if they are ignorant and oblivious. An adult should be emotionally stable and balanced enough to keep perspective, while a teenager is a massive cauldron of hormones. Teenage drama is interesting to some people, but the rest of us just want a good story. I would much rather drop a romance that never goes anywhere in favor of learning more about the world or the characters that the author has created.

Recommendations

Now I'm going to go out on a limb here and recommend a book that I've reviewed recently and a book series that I've already scheduled for review.

The Iron Sword by Jocelyn Fox

Tess O'Connor and Molly must journey to the Fae realm to save the world of dreams. I couldn't help comparing The Iron Sword and Frey as I was reading them because they are both YA, written in the first person, and have other similarities that would spoil Frey if I shared. However, every fault I found in Frey was answered by the Iron Sword. There was no blanked out history and, the narrator was likeable and inquisitive, but not pouty. However, both books introduced a large cast of characters very well, and made me want to read more. And sadly, both cut off at the climax of the plot.

Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews

If you have never heard of this book series or this author duo then, please take my advice and read this book. Magic Bites is the first book in the Kate Daniels series. Kate's guardian is killed and she does what she has to in order to find his killer even confronting the Beast Lord, leader of the local shifters. This book has absolutely nothing in common with Frey, except it's written in first person. The reason I am recommending it is because the Kate Daniels series is what all first person books should aspire to be. The world is detailed with the backstory strong enough to be an intriguing read all on it's own. The characters are hilarious, not just likeable but loveable. The pacing sucks you in and doesn't let go. The plot for each book is simple but the arc for Kate is spellbinding. The writing is sharp and slick with tons of quotable one liners.

I ranted about the flaws of young adult versus adult novels earlier, but I want to be clear all young adult novels aren't bad. I love Harry Potter, Morganville, House of Night, The Hunger Games, and Divergent. But I don't think that characters and books should get a pass because of the innate handicaps of writing from a teenage perspective. Kids are people too, and so many authors forget that. Hermione uses her intelligence to intimidate and shield herself from being bullied. She can be ruthless and fierce, but she puts her whole heart into everything she does. And that's established from the first book when she's eleven.

Most children aren't just bubble headed idiots, they love and hate things all on their own. So why not make a whole person with interests and opinions in things that have nothing to do with the story? She can love music but be a calamity when it comes to actually playing an instrument or singing. He can hate nature and then have to trek across the country. Interests and opinions add flavor, give a chance for conflict, and can be another way to add detail to a character trait already established. With just a little more thought characters can go from sketches with nothing to do but repeat the action and rehash things that have already happened in the book, to unique knowledgeable experts. It doesn't have to be knowledge of backstory, all of areas of expertise can lead to a richer story.

Were my recommendations too far off the mark? How do you feel about young adult? Please comment below; I'd love to hear from you.

Magic of Thieves by C. Greenwood

Rating

Well, it ain't Robin Hood.
Synopsis Ilan must hide from the Praetor's soldiers, that's what she remembers about her parents and the rush to leave the province. Upon detection, her mother passed a memento into Ilan's possession and she has kept it throughout her young life. She kept it from guardians who didn't know what to do with her, a greedy peddler, and fierce brigands. But while the thieves are fierce, she has made her home with them. In the Dimwood, she found a name and a purpose only to have those tested by a priest boy and the threat of her childhood.
Characters Ilan is a selfish, spoiled brat who does kindness only to use that single act of kindness as a club to beat her only friend down. The man who protects and guides her receives nothing but defiance, jeers, and pain for his trouble. She's impulsive and headstrong with misplaced loyalties and priorities--in other words she's a teenager. Because the book is written in first person point of view, Ilan is the only character worth talking about because she focuses on herself. The priest boy she saves is the next most fleshed out character, unfortunately, he is seen through her eyes so his characteristics may or may not be exaggerated.
World The world is traditional fantasy, with magic being outlawed and cutthroats living in the woods. There may or may not be another race besides humans, there's not enough detail given to know for sure. In fact, the entire story lacks in world detail. An example even though Ilan lives in the woods and knows the names of all the trees, she can't be bothered to give the reader the names.
Pacing Pacing was real life, in other words molehills become mountains that a reader has to trek right along with Ilan. All events are given the same importance from building a shelter to save a young priest's life to pouting in the woods for three days while significant events take place elsewhere.
Writing First person point of view, focus was on how the character felt not on actual details. The actual significant events were lost in a sea of every days life and teen angst. Characters, events and surroundings were filtered and reduced to what the main character deemed important. There was no sensory input other than what was seen, as the internal landscape took cardinal focus.
Plot There may be a small plot, but it's three events in a sea of minor events that are treated as major ones. Subplots and unanswered questions that are driving the real plot are unresolved and left to the next book. This book introduced and established characters, contained an inciting incident and started the ascending actions. The rest of the ascending action, climax, descending action, and the denouement are hopefully in the next book, but will probably be chopped up as well. There is a difference between arcs and plot. Arcs usually involve minor characters, or if involving the main character create a dynamic shift in circumstances and character growth. Plot: Chosen One defeats the villain and saves the world. Arc: Chosen One goes from gawky farm boy to wise, powerful, rich world changing wizard.
The Good Not much, it's free on Amazon for Kindle.
The Bad I don't know if it's greed or apathy that leads publishers, mass market or self, to cut up a plotline and shove it into several books, but it has to stop. Books that get turned into movies are fine to be cut up. A movie is maximum two hours and change long. So it's either chop it up and show the entire book in two films, or edit out details and minor plot points to fit the book into one movie. But a book can be filled with detail galore that showcase the author's world, subplots, minor character's details, and all the glorious input that make a book come alive for the reader. So when a publisher decides to cut off a book just as it's getting good, they are either saying to me that they don't care that I'm involved in the author's world and story line. Or they are saying they want to squeeze as much money out of me as they possibly can. Either way, this publishing strategy backfires on me. If the publisher doesn't care enough about me to give me a complete book, then I don't care enough about them to read books that they have published or continue the series. Readers can read thousands of other books why are publishers handicapping themselves. And if it's greed that is the motivation, then be smart about it. Don't chop a book series up at the beginning chop it up at the end. Recommendations
My recommendations are both young adult and written in the first person by the female main character, and if you haven't read them then you really should.
Glass Houses by Rachel Caine

Being a college freshman sucks especially when you stumble on the fact that the town is ran by vampires. This book is a little nutty like all of Caine's writing, but that's what makes it unique and awesome. All the characters are likeable or completely unlikeable there is no in between. And the book ends on a cliffhanger set up for the next book.
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

I know how dare I recommend The Hunger Games, as if everyone hasn't either read the book or seen the movie. Maybe, but if you've only see the movies then you'll not like my next comments. Katniss is like Ilan, a completely selfish person. But the difference is Collins makes the world and everything around Katniss awesome so, you don't care that you don't like Katniss. Katniss cares only about Prim. She only befriended Rue because she reminded her of Prim. She likes Gales, maybe romantically but only likes him. She's not a hero; she's a survivor. Want to know the difference? Read the book.
I'm not saying Magic of Thieves was a waste of paper, but it wasn't a complete novel. There were too many beginnings and not enough resolution. This entire novel could have been backstory, and I'm guessing that if I were to continue to read the rest of the series it will probably be treated as such. But nothing in this book made me want to continue on, so I gave it a two. Want to debate plot versus arc? Want to defend Katniss? Then comment below.