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evamadera1's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this book so much. While I found Chokshi's Aru Shah series enjoyable, I vastly prefer Corazon to Aru. I also loved the exploration of Filipino culture. This book focused more on Corazon's character development, her journey through grief than the fantastical elements, a welcome diversion for the typical elements I mentioned in my review of Dawn of the Jaguar. Chokshi wove all the elements together quite well in a single volume. I loved this story, especially Corazon's animal companion.
erinsbookshelves's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
dandelionsteph's review
I almost always like books under the Rick Riordan Presents imprint, and I really liked the Aru Shah series, so I figured I'd like this book. Unfortunately, I did not. While the setting of babaylans (from context, apparently shamans/witch doctors) and the spirit world was interesting, I wasn't able to go very far because of its writing style.
The writing style felt surprisingly amateurish, like fanfiction written by a 13-year-old, for multiple reasons. Firstly, there was a lot of "telling" (direct statements in the narrative), rather than "showing" (conveying something through dialogue, imagery or context). While telling is at times justified, its frequency and duration distracted from the narrative. For the sake of fairness, I inspected an Aru Shah book sample for telling-not-showing: Chapter 7 of Book 3, Page 1-2: "Aru couldn't help herself. She was jealous again[...]Was she so bad at being a Pandava that her own soul dad wouldn't stick up for her?" 3 out of the 10 sentences in this passage contain worldbuilding details from Indian mythology/religion that might be hard to fit elsewhere, given the sheer amount of mythological context needed to understand the references. That series often has "telling" when it concerns the mythological details, although at times it's conveyed outside of narration or dialogue in a "Pope in the Pool" (https://savethecat.com/tips-and-tactics/swimming-with-the-pope-in-the-pool) sequence of imaginative imagery.
In contrast, in The Spirit Glass, even things that would be quick and easy to convey in-story are conveyed through narration. In fact, sometimes information is conveyed in a redundant way: on Page 26, information is given that Tina's magic is powerful and graceful and Corazon's magic is clumsy and weak even after this was established by the showing technique on Pages 1-2. Sometimes the instances of "telling" accomplished nothing, to the point they could have quickly been edited out by a line editor.
In addition, the sentences frequently feel choppy and, occasionally, awkwardly-phrased. While Saso might have been an easy way to more naturally provide exposition or character personality details via dialogue with Corazon, more often than not, Saso functions as extraneous comic relief.
The writing style felt surprisingly amateurish, like fanfiction written by a 13-year-old, for multiple reasons. Firstly, there was a lot of "telling" (direct statements in the narrative), rather than "showing" (conveying something through dialogue, imagery or context). While telling is at times justified, its frequency and duration distracted from the narrative. For the sake of fairness, I inspected an Aru Shah book sample for telling-not-showing: Chapter 7 of Book 3, Page 1-2: "Aru couldn't help herself. She was jealous again[...]Was she so bad at being a Pandava that her own soul dad wouldn't stick up for her?" 3 out of the 10 sentences in this passage contain worldbuilding details from Indian mythology/religion that might be hard to fit elsewhere, given the sheer amount of mythological context needed to understand the references. That series often has "telling" when it concerns the mythological details, although at times it's conveyed outside of narration or dialogue in a "Pope in the Pool" (https://savethecat.com/tips-and-tactics/swimming-with-the-pope-in-the-pool) sequence of imaginative imagery.
In contrast, in The Spirit Glass, even things that would be quick and easy to convey in-story are conveyed through narration. In fact, sometimes information is conveyed in a redundant way: on Page 26, information is given that Tina's magic is powerful and graceful and Corazon's magic is clumsy and weak even after this was established by the showing technique on Pages 1-2. Sometimes the instances of "telling" accomplished nothing, to the point they could have quickly been edited out by a line editor.
In addition, the sentences frequently feel choppy and, occasionally, awkwardly-phrased. While Saso might have been an easy way to more naturally provide exposition or character personality details via dialogue with Corazon, more often than not, Saso functions as extraneous comic relief.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Death of parent
Minor: Animal death
paigereitz's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
jennie_reads's review against another edition
5.0
It's a Rick Riordan presents by Roshani, of course I'm going to love it. I loved Corazon and her gecko. I loved finding everything out. There were so many things that took me by surprise.
veritasia's review
adventurous
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Filipino mythology and dealing with loss
shadowofadoubt89's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
teorivera17's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25