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A review by eyreguide
Dangerous by Shannon Hale
3.0
I love Shannon Hale's writing. I've read some of her fairy tale retellings, and her contemporary works and I think she spins story and character beautifully. Somehow in this new science fiction adventure though, the characters and the story fell a little flat for me. Mostly in the beginning though - I think the story comes together much better as it moves on. But the way we are introduced to Maisie and the summer camp felt rushed and I didn't feel much of a connection with these characters. I was also a bit disappointed by the romance which wasn't as well developed. It's so strange because the plot is really great - full of action and really clever ideas and twists. I was also pleasantly surprised by how much solid scientific information explains all the technology and inventions. There were many witty one-liners and fun puns too, which made for lots of humor.
I did like the main character Maisie alot - she has a great sense of humor, especially about her disability which she never lets stop her. But she felt closed off sometimes which made it hard to really understand her as a character. And that also meant I wasn't as invested in the romance, which has it's own twists which made me very confused about who I was rooting for near the end. Wilder especially was so ambiguous, and smarmy and handsome and manipulative, and I wasn't very interested in seeing whether or not he could win Masie over. And that was a significant part of the book.
The found family with the fire team was also disappointing. The character development felt rushed and while there were times when I liked how one or the other worked in the story, I never really felt invested in them or their actions.
There was a lot to enjoy about this book however. I loved the intelligence of the story and the way poetry and Shakespeare was worked in. The plot was very clever with a lot going on, and also featuring a really great empowering resolution. And one character really stood out for me - Dragon - who was such an understated hero and a moving character. While this is a very readable book that is sometimes hard to put down, I'm not sure it will stay with me because I found the characters oddly lackluster.
(I received this book from the publisher or author for a fair and honest review. I was not compensated for this review.)
I did like the main character Maisie alot - she has a great sense of humor, especially about her disability which she never lets stop her. But she felt closed off sometimes which made it hard to really understand her as a character. And that also meant I wasn't as invested in the romance, which has it's own twists which made me very confused about who I was rooting for near the end. Wilder especially was so ambiguous, and smarmy and handsome and manipulative, and I wasn't very interested in seeing whether or not he could win Masie over. And that was a significant part of the book.
The found family with the fire team was also disappointing. The character development felt rushed and while there were times when I liked how one or the other worked in the story, I never really felt invested in them or their actions.
There was a lot to enjoy about this book however. I loved the intelligence of the story and the way poetry and Shakespeare was worked in. The plot was very clever with a lot going on, and also featuring a really great empowering resolution. And one character really stood out for me - Dragon - who was such an understated hero and a moving character. While this is a very readable book that is sometimes hard to put down, I'm not sure it will stay with me because I found the characters oddly lackluster.
(I received this book from the publisher or author for a fair and honest review. I was not compensated for this review.)