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I heard about this book a few weeks ago. Despite it being a middle-grade book, I decided to give it a go, because it's not in my DNA to just ignore a story about castles, wizards and mythological creatures. This was the first book by Connolly that I ever read, so it took me some chapters to get used to her writing style. I must say that she writes in a very simple, modern way. I didn't notice any attempts to try and complicate things, which was somewhat relaxing. In a time when I'm getting used to authors using so many metaphors to explain the most simple gesture, it's good to get a story simply laid straight before my eyes, from time to time. I suppose liking or disliking this book will depend solely on your expectations about it before reading. If you're expecting this will be a story full of ""wow, ok, I didn't see that coming"" moments, this is not the book for you; all the ""secrets"" and hidden meanings are, in my opinion, pretty obvious since the first five chapters or so.
About the plot itself, it is good enough for a middle-grade book, but I can't get over the feeling that the author could have used her characters more wisely; She could have developed them further and made them fit the story more cohesively, someway. I'm only saying this because there were a lot of ""where-the-hell-did-this-guy-come-from?"" moments, which are kind of a pet peeve for me; I certainly wouldn't have minded 60 more pages or so, if that was the difference between reading a completely believable plot and reading a ""meh"" explained one. Maybe I'm just too used to reading stories with multiple POVs, but I think this book would have been way better if she had written six or seven chapters under the points of view of Barnabas, Batu, Ren and maybe even Ensel. The fact that she didn't do it made it seem that the only characters who had a real development throughout the whole thing were Kym and Ren; I felt like the others were completely one dimensional, being there only to fill roles that were not that important, because I didn't know what they were thinking and feeling. Regardless, I couldn't help noticing how good Connolly is at writing ""cute"" scenes. Once Kym started interacting more with humans and even when she was alone, discovering life by herself, there were a lot of moments when I caught myself being like ""OMG, that's so beautiful..."". There are classical romance elements thrown everywhere, from roses left by a loved one on a fountain to dates under the moonlight.
For those who might be wandering what this book is actually about, here it is: it tells the story of Kymera, a girl born (or should I say ""made""?) to fulfill one single purpose: defeat the evil wizard who torments the inhabitants of Bryre. The story begins with her being born, already with a body of thirteen year old girl; the difference is that she has already all the cognitive abilities of a thirteen year old, plus wings, claws, super senses and a tail which allows her to infuse venom on her enemies in order to put them to sleep. Such incredible accomplishment was possible due to her Father's incredible science skills. Once Kym opens her eyes for the first time, she is completely lost: -I talk just as I did when I was human. [...] I know nothing of who I was. Nothing of my mother. Even my memories of Father are out of reach. Little by little though, her Father explains her what happened to her former body, to her mother, to her memories. Kym believes him without any second thoughts; soon enough, she begins her training, for she cannot hope to defeat the powerful evil wizard if she can't even control her own body. More than that, she wants to make her father proud, for she feels she owes too much to him, who gave her her life, presumably, twice: -This strange world outside our cottage requires the utmost attention to navigate, and I am determined to do it well.
Soon after she ends her training, Kym starts her mission. Under instructions of her father, she starts rescuing girls from the prison of the wizard, which, surprisingly, lies in the center of Bryre. She has to go by night, wearing a cloak, for she can't be seen by humans. With every dawn, Kym returns home with a new sleeping girl. Here is where things start turning really weird; her father doesn't react to situations as the expected, the girls aren't allowed around the house and are soon dispatched to another place within a few days of being there. It's just not right. It's a shame that it took Kym almost half a book to realize that, as well.
Anyway, in one of her nightly incursions, Kym meets Ren, I Bryre boy who has also the habit of wandering Bryre's streets at night. So as not to spoil anything, the only thing I must say about their relationship is that it was the closest thing to a believable feature that this story displays; the way they interact with each other and grow closer as friends was really sweet to watch. Ren also was the first external influence on Kym, making her whole existence change from the point they become friends; she no longer believes blindly on her father, for he is not her point of balance anymore: -I want to please Father, but it is no longer the only thing I desire. I want to see that boy again.. Little by little, Kym starts, against her father's will, to make friends, interact with people, and she starts seeing him for who he really is. The book turns from Kym's inner philosophical struggles about being what she is and being accepted, to a fun and magical adventure to save those she learned to love.
All things considered, I really liked the story. It's not one of those super deep books full of metaphors that bring you to mental stupor, but it is still a very sweet story about growing of age, accepting who you are and embracing your responsibilities. Connolly's prose is very easy to read, very simple. Still, it is delicate and, sometimes, even poetic. I am only taking one star due to the mentioned fact that there were too many unexplained appearances and disappearances throughout the story, which could have been better developed had she written some chapters under another point of view besides Kym's. Also, I'm also taking out one quarter of a star because, at least in this edition, I found a lot of typos, like ten to twenty or more of them, and it's kind of annoying. So I suppose my final rating is something like 3,75. Regardless, it is a very sweet book, with characters believable enough for a middle-grade story. I would strongly recommend it for readers of all ages who still like to read light-fantasy, especially for those who don't expect every book they read to become the next [b:The Lord of the Rings|33|The Lord of the Rings (The Lord of the Rings, #1-3)|J.R.R. Tolkien|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1411114164s/33.jpg|3462456] or something.
Just a sketch I did yesterday before going to bed, for I couldn't take this scene out of my head.
Interesting quotes that I didn't include in the review:
The Last Passage