Title: Silverwood
Author: Betsy Streeter
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Sci Fi
Publisher: Light Messages Publishing
Release Date: March 11, 2015
I received an e-ARC of Silverwood through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Summary (via Goodreads)
The Silverwoods are a clan with a messy history and an uncertain future, responsible to protect humanity from the shape-shifting Tromindox. Helen Silverwood, fourteen, is beginning to realize that she will never lead a normal life. There have been clues: Her mother's unusual work habits, her father's absence, her brother's strange abilities with a pencil and paper, and her own recurring dreams and hacker tendencies. And, the family's constant moves from place to place.
Things are about to get much more complicated, and it all leads to the remote town of Brokeneck, California. Can the Silverwoods keep from losing each other in space and time, while unraveling a dangerous mystery?
It took me a while to get into this book. It is a bit dialogue heavy, and the plot feels super rushed. Most of the book there is so much explanation but very little reaction to all the revelations that are being fired at all the characters (and you). Also the heavy dialogue, though witty at times, tended to not flow in a way that was believable. Around 40% though, I managed to just accept the writing and got really into into the story because of the world. The world has so many incredible details, fun gadgets, crazy places, and odd elements that it sucked me in because I wanted to know what made this world tick.
Silverwood has gold-star amazing characters. The Silverwood family has their own certain interesting quirks, special abilities, and personalities, but the side characters really stole the show for me. While the characters aren't necessarily the most realistic, they are just so funny and odd.The entire population of Brokeneck was hilarious, especially the woman who compulsively knits to keep her dead husband happy, and the Silverwood brothers should have their own Hardy Boys style adventure show. I also found the Chairman sort of hilarious when he wasn't being a bureaucratic pain for the Silverwoods. Just thinking about some of these characters made me laugh while writing this.
Let's talk about the Tromindox, shall we? The Tromindox are these species of time-jumpin', shape-shifting, super tall squid creatures who feed off people's energy. When explained in basic terms, they sound really weird and grotesque, but I couldn't get enough of them. The Tromindox are one of the most original species that I have read about in a while. Probably my favorite section of the book was the Tromindox history told from a Tromindox's perspective because their history was so interesting. (Though it did bother me that that section was repeated in dialogue later on. I thought maybe it was sort of common Tromindox lore that they all knew, but it was written with almost exact wording...) What the main issue in the world boils down two is just these two civilizations trying to survive but at odds with each other. And while they are completely different species, they are so similar in there actions. Well, except that one essentially wants to eats the other.
Rating: 3 out of 5. The rushed and dialogue heavy writing made it a bit difficult to completely love, but the plot and world details were fantastic! Debating on whether I want to read the sequel.
Post a Comment