Reviews

Greta and Valdin by Rebecca K Reilly

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kimberly_b's review

slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character

2.0

I'm not sure if this was a case of this not being the right book for me or if this book just really isn't good. I only picked this up since it was my Marginals and Margaritas Book Club pick for June. Otherwise, I honestly wouldn't have read, let alone finished, it.

Reilly seemed like she was determined to be quirky for the sake of being quirky. And, it ultimately made the story and events feel forced to me. Thank goodness for the Characters list in the beginning of this book or I wouldn't haven't been able to keep anyone straight. Even with the list, it was STILL confusing. There are two Gretas, two Valdins, AND two Lavrentis! I don't understand why there needed to be 6 people with the same name as someone else. It made it impossible to get immersed in the story, because I was constantly trying to keep everyone straight (no pun intended).

There is ample LGBTQ+ representation in Greta & Valdin, but I was more interested in the Maori culture, since that's something I know very little about. Unfortunately, I don't feel like I gained much knowledge or understanding of Maori culture from this book. Terms were used, but I have no idea what they mean. It would have been super helpful to have a glossary of terms. That would have been just as helpful as the character list.

From a writing perspective, I found Greta and Valdin's voices almost indistinguishable. If Reilly didn't include a V or G to denote the POV at the beginning of the chapter, I wouldn't have been able to tell who was telling the story. I read a lot of books with multiple POV's, and a good writer can make each character's voice unique. I personally didn't find that to be the case here. Also, I wouldn't recommend coming into this story expecting much to happen plot-wise.