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A review by mizuci
Still Life by Jacqueline West
3.0
This series was very disappointing. It had a promising start, but failed to really develop much beyond the first two novels.
While West clearly has a way with words (vivid descriptions, especially), suspense building, and satisfactory/comforting story endings, I feel that she struggles with character development and repetition.
Secrecy and trust were huge themes throughout the series and yet Olive never learned her lesson in the end. Even in this last novel, she still manages to doubt the cats when things go wrong. The plot was very repetitive and not very well developed for a five novel series. It feels like West couldn't get away from the creative idea of paintings long enough to really add much depth to the series.
Though the series felt flat throughout, there were little glimpses of an idea that could have been interesting. For example, I wish that she had run with the idea of (it's) still life and used it to have Olive gradually mature over the five books.
(She almost dies at least 5 times--for crying out loud--and still manages to learn nothing!)
Spoiler
In the very last pages of the series, Olive seems to grow into herself, gains the courage to make friends, and a possible parallel is drawn between Elsewhere and the experiences and lessons readers can gain through the fantasy world of novels. As the story doesn't really build up to these conclusions, however, these things felt like they were simply tacked on at the end.While West clearly has a way with words (vivid descriptions, especially), suspense building, and satisfactory/comforting story endings, I feel that she struggles with character development and repetition.
Secrecy and trust were huge themes throughout the series and yet Olive never learned her lesson in the end. Even in this last novel, she still manages to doubt the cats when things go wrong. The plot was very repetitive and not very well developed for a five novel series. It feels like West couldn't get away from the creative idea of paintings long enough to really add much depth to the series.
Though the series felt flat throughout, there were little glimpses of an idea that could have been interesting. For example, I wish that she had run with the idea of (it's) still life and used it to have Olive gradually mature over the five books.
(She almost dies at least 5 times--for crying out loud--and still manages to learn nothing!)