Eric Appelbaum
I sat with this book a while before rating it, because I really wanted to like it more than I did. It has some concepts that I really enjoy: the framing device and the meta commentary around reading as a child vs as an adult.
Maybe it is because I am reading it for the first time, rather than returning to it in adulthood that takes away from it? Hard to say.
Ende's The Neverending Story is not so much a coming of age story, but more an outcast boy, Bastian Balthazar Bux, coming to love himself for who he is and recognizing that those around him don't see him for his perceived inadequacies as he reads his own version of The Neverending Story that serves as the aforementioned framing device.
The story moving through a multitude of characters and settings worked towards the conceptual themes:The Neverending Story containing all fictional stories told and read by humans, and the story we read being a meta commentary about how we have lost our childlike wonder, exacerbated by modern society's glorification of work and productivity that Ende was going for, but in the end I found it just really distracting. I think that is the root of my dislike of the book, the concepts and the story are at odds with each other, rather than complimentary.
Bastian's amnesia is a particular offender. It makes much of his own growth and change feel unearned or simply jarring, despite being an excellent way to convey overindulgence of fantasy and escapism.
I really do see the potential here, and if I did not experience the dissonance between the commentary and the story itself, this would easily be a 5 star read; however, my gripes with the execution really made it hard for me to enjoy.
I sat with this book a while before rating it, because I really wanted to like it more than I did. It has some concepts that I really enjoy: the framing device and the meta commentary around reading as a child vs as an adult.
Maybe it is because I am reading it for the first time, rather than returning to it in adulthood that takes away from it? Hard to say.
Ende's The Neverending Story is not so much a coming of age story, but more an outcast boy, Bastian Balthazar Bux, coming to love himself for who he is and recognizing that those around him don't see him for his perceived inadequacies as he reads his own version of The Neverending Story that serves as the aforementioned framing device.
The story moving through a multitude of characters and settings worked towards the conceptual themes:The Neverending Story containing all fictional stories told and read by humans, and the story we read being a meta commentary about how we have lost our childlike wonder, exacerbated by modern society's glorification of work and productivity that Ende was going for, but in the end I found it just really distracting. I think that is the root of my dislike of the book, the concepts and the story are at odds with each other, rather than complimentary.
Bastian's amnesia is a particular offender. It makes much of his own growth and change feel unearned or simply jarring, despite being an excellent way to convey overindulgence of fantasy and escapism.
I really do see the potential here, and if I did not experience the dissonance between the commentary and the story itself, this would easily be a 5 star read; however, my gripes with the execution really made it hard for me to enjoy.
The Poet Empress is so full of soul. My heart aches for these characters.
At its heart, it's a will she won't she story that drags you through emotional highs and lows. It's expertly crafted. Shen Tao has shown such an understanding for what makes us hate and what makes us love, and the truth that lies in both.
She tackles sensitive topics with such grace. She does not shy away, but it lacks the gratuity that some might have come to see in the Grimdark stories of late. I implore anyone to take in her warning at the beginning of the book, but to be brave. She will not let you down for your bravery.
I don't have much more to say without spoiling this wonderful experience, just my full heartfelt recommendation.
The Poet Empress is so full of soul. My heart aches for these characters.
At its heart, it's a will she won't she story that drags you through emotional highs and lows. It's expertly crafted. Shen Tao has shown such an understanding for what makes us hate and what makes us love, and the truth that lies in both.
She tackles sensitive topics with such grace. She does not shy away, but it lacks the gratuity that some might have come to see in the Grimdark stories of late. I implore anyone to take in her warning at the beginning of the book, but to be brave. She will not let you down for your bravery.
I don't have much more to say without spoiling this wonderful experience, just my full heartfelt recommendation.