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A review by guenhwyvar
A Pair of Docks by Jennifer Ellis
4.0
*Really 3.5 stars*
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. First of all, I enjoyed the characters and the combination of fantasy and sci-fi. In addition, I enjoyed the writing, story telling, and description and found the pacing and plot engaging. However, I did take issue with a few plot and character elements as described below.
First of all, the main character has a supposed IQ of 175 however, there are a number of times when she doesn't react or respond appropriately for this IQ. I understand that she's young, but if she's a genius it should be a little more difficult for her to miss obvious details. Also, simply having a high IQ would not necessarily make her awkward in social situations or not wish to be around people, however the only explanation given for her reclusiveness when compared with her twin brother is her high IQ. The same goes for Simon.
Furthermore, there is a character in the story described as having Asperger's, however he presents more like someone further on the autism spectrum. I found this incongruence distracting, though I doubt people who aren't familiar with Asperger's would notice.
I also found that the two twins didn't have as close a relationship as I would have expected. Or rather, their closeness was described, but not often demonstrated in the book so far. The MC claims that she and her twin are very close, but we didn't get much of an illustration of that.
And finally, for so many science minded characters discovering something seemingly magical I expected quite a bit more scientific explanation and hypothesis than what we received. For all that the MC goes on about the scientific method, aside from objecting that others aren't using the scientific method she doesn't do much to study the stones in an objective way, and she doesn't seem nearly as curious about testing them as a scientist probably would be. For someone with a high IQ and a supposedly scientific mind, she is decidedly lacking in curiosity. Science requires curiosity, creativity and passion, otherwise nothing new would ever be discovered save for blind luck, and blind luck only serves as a stepping stone.
Still, my issues with the story aside, some of which I hope to find resolved with the sequel, I enjoyed this read and think it would make an entertaining story for young readers and adults alike.
*I received this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. First of all, I enjoyed the characters and the combination of fantasy and sci-fi. In addition, I enjoyed the writing, story telling, and description and found the pacing and plot engaging. However, I did take issue with a few plot and character elements as described below.
First of all, the main character has a supposed IQ of 175 however, there are a number of times when she doesn't react or respond appropriately for this IQ. I understand that she's young, but if she's a genius it should be a little more difficult for her to miss obvious details. Also, simply having a high IQ would not necessarily make her awkward in social situations or not wish to be around people, however the only explanation given for her reclusiveness when compared with her twin brother is her high IQ. The same goes for Simon.
Furthermore, there is a character in the story described as having Asperger's, however he presents more like someone further on the autism spectrum. I found this incongruence distracting, though I doubt people who aren't familiar with Asperger's would notice.
I also found that the two twins didn't have as close a relationship as I would have expected. Or rather, their closeness was described, but not often demonstrated in the book so far. The MC claims that she and her twin are very close, but we didn't get much of an illustration of that.
And finally, for so many science minded characters discovering something seemingly magical I expected quite a bit more scientific explanation and hypothesis than what we received. For all that the MC goes on about the scientific method, aside from objecting that others aren't using the scientific method she doesn't do much to study the stones in an objective way, and she doesn't seem nearly as curious about testing them as a scientist probably would be. For someone with a high IQ and a supposedly scientific mind, she is decidedly lacking in curiosity. Science requires curiosity, creativity and passion, otherwise nothing new would ever be discovered save for blind luck, and blind luck only serves as a stepping stone.
Still, my issues with the story aside, some of which I hope to find resolved with the sequel, I enjoyed this read and think it would make an entertaining story for young readers and adults alike.
*I received this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*