Lauren
If I was still in high school when The Gravewood came out, I would have been all over it. Considering this is a book written for readers of that age, it does precisely what it should. While as an adult I still thoroughly enjoy reading YA stories, some of them translate better for adult readers than others, and this is a story I think is best enjoyed by readers in their teens to maybe early 20s.
All that to be said, there is a lot going for this book. It’s written well and the comments on Pennsylvania are spot on (I’ve lived here my whole life and could not agree more). While the characters clearly each had their designated role, I think that works well for YA books. I also found the twist predictable, but again, I don’t think it would have been as predictable if I was the target audience. I really enjoyed having a main character dealing with hearing loss in this environment. As a disabled person myself, I often find myself thinking I would simply die in most dystopian/sci fi/fantasy situations, so it was nice to see someone tackle what that may look like (helps that this is an own voices - the author uses hearing aids).
If you get the chance, get the audiobook from your library solely for the end of audiobook interview! From what I have seen, it is exclusive to the audiobook and honestly made me like the story more than I initially did.
I think I will pick up the conclusion to this duology solely because I do want some answers, but it won’t be a priority read when it releases.
If I was still in high school when The Gravewood came out, I would have been all over it. Considering this is a book written for readers of that age, it does precisely what it should. While as an adult I still thoroughly enjoy reading YA stories, some of them translate better for adult readers than others, and this is a story I think is best enjoyed by readers in their teens to maybe early 20s.
All that to be said, there is a lot going for this book. It’s written well and the comments on Pennsylvania are spot on (I’ve lived here my whole life and could not agree more). While the characters clearly each had their designated role, I think that works well for YA books. I also found the twist predictable, but again, I don’t think it would have been as predictable if I was the target audience. I really enjoyed having a main character dealing with hearing loss in this environment. As a disabled person myself, I often find myself thinking I would simply die in most dystopian/sci fi/fantasy situations, so it was nice to see someone tackle what that may look like (helps that this is an own voices - the author uses hearing aids).
If you get the chance, get the audiobook from your library solely for the end of audiobook interview! From what I have seen, it is exclusive to the audiobook and honestly made me like the story more than I initially did.
I think I will pick up the conclusion to this duology solely because I do want some answers, but it won’t be a priority read when it releases.