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A review by casey_zi
Fullmetal Alchemist: The Valley of White Petals (Novel) by Makoto Inoue
3.0
An entertaining little side-story that gives you a glimpse of Edward and Alphonses' adventures during the 3-year time skip in the animes and manga. At the beginning I had a vague feeling of deja vu, as the setup of this story is similiar to the Lior arc at the beginning of the first anime and the manga, and it does little to distinguish itself from that arc, even later on in the story. However, characterization is intact, as well as the series' overarching themes of morality, fairness and the principle of Equivalent Exchange.
The ending was a cop-out that bumped it down from four to three stars for me. Characters that were previously staunch in their beliefs and ideals changed at the drop of a hat, and it rushed to tie up the loose ends into a neat little bow much too quickly, colouring all the interesting grey areas it had previously created black and white.
The writing is a little awkward at times, but not nearly so much as other reviews might lead you to believe, and it's not as juvenile either. Overall a fun read, though it doesn't contain anything of substance and does not add much to the series as a whole. I would recommend it to FMA fans ages 12 and up.
The ending was a cop-out that bumped it down from four to three stars for me. Characters that were previously staunch in their beliefs and ideals changed at the drop of a hat, and it rushed to tie up the loose ends into a neat little bow much too quickly, colouring all the interesting grey areas it had previously created black and white.
The writing is a little awkward at times, but not nearly so much as other reviews might lead you to believe, and it's not as juvenile either. Overall a fun read, though it doesn't contain anything of substance and does not add much to the series as a whole. I would recommend it to FMA fans ages 12 and up.