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A review by rereader33
Duckling Ugly by Neal Shusterman
5.0
Well, I have some very...conflicting emotions about this novel. I want to make it clear that despite my gripes, this was a great story, easily the most disturbing book in the Dark Fusion trilogy, and I sincerely doubt I will be able to get it out of my head anytime soon. And when I mean disturbing, I mean I originally thought this series should be aimed at a middle grade demographic and this book changed my mind on that. The imagery, the trajectory of the story, the final twist, the ending, holy shit all of it was so damn DARK.
One thing I was worried about going into this trilogy was how these stories were going to connect, considering they all featured different people. Now that I've had time to think about it, I think that what connects this trilogy is the idea of karma and/or taking responsibility for your actions. The protagonists in all 3 books do horrific things and the stories all end with them having to take responsibility for their actions in painful or horrible ways. I won't say how because it would spoil the phenomenal endings for all 3 books, but karma didn't bitch slap these kids, she hit them with a FUCKING TRUCK.
That being said, I don't have a lot to say with Duckling Ugly because I'm worried I'll spoil too much of it, so here's how I feel. I think Cara was the perfect protagonist for this particular story, and her transformation throughout the novel was well thought out and executed splendidly. I felt that the storytelling was a little disjointed and the story didn't flow as well as it could have, but the pacing was still spot-on so I can forgive that. I liked the inclusion of spells/spelling and thought that was a neat way to tie everything together, even if it's never really explained. I didn't think the bullying was too over the top, at least not for this kind of story, but I didn't feel like most of the characters outside of Cara and maybe Miss Leticia had any depth. Maybe that was intended, I'm not sure, but it did bother me a bit.
Overall, this was a great ending to a good series. I wouldn't say that this is my favorite series Shusterman has done and I can tell this is one of his earlier works, but it was still entertaining and a quick read. I do recommend this series, just make sure you're prepared for some disturbing shit.
One thing I was worried about going into this trilogy was how these stories were going to connect, considering they all featured different people. Now that I've had time to think about it, I think that what connects this trilogy is the idea of karma and/or taking responsibility for your actions. The protagonists in all 3 books do horrific things and the stories all end with them having to take responsibility for their actions in painful or horrible ways. I won't say how because it would spoil the phenomenal endings for all 3 books, but karma didn't bitch slap these kids, she hit them with a FUCKING TRUCK.
That being said, I don't have a lot to say with Duckling Ugly because I'm worried I'll spoil too much of it, so here's how I feel. I think Cara was the perfect protagonist for this particular story, and her transformation throughout the novel was well thought out and executed splendidly. I felt that the storytelling was a little disjointed and the story didn't flow as well as it could have, but the pacing was still spot-on so I can forgive that. I liked the inclusion of spells/spelling and thought that was a neat way to tie everything together, even if it's never really explained. I didn't think the bullying was too over the top, at least not for this kind of story, but I didn't feel like most of the characters outside of Cara and maybe Miss Leticia had any depth. Maybe that was intended, I'm not sure, but it did bother me a bit.
Overall, this was a great ending to a good series. I wouldn't say that this is my favorite series Shusterman has done and I can tell this is one of his earlier works, but it was still entertaining and a quick read. I do recommend this series, just make sure you're prepared for some disturbing shit.