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May. 19th, 2011 10:09 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
skygiantsOkay, I've read The Hunger Games (at least the first book) and now I've read Malinda Lo's Ash, which means I'm 2/3 of the way through the Holy Triumvirate of YA K-name Heroines, right? I've got Katniss and Kaisa, now I just need Katsa and I've caught 'em all!
(Yes, I know, I'm two or three years behind most of the world on this but WHATEVER.)
Anyway: Ash. I'm not sure I actually have a ton to say about it! I read it on the bus on the way back from Boston. For those who don't know, Ash is a fairly straightforward Cinderella retelling, except the fairy godparent is an elf dude who's creepily in love with her, and instead of falling for the prince Our Heroine Ash falls for his chief huntress. Other than the love-interest twists, though, the story plays out mostly the same, evil stepmother and secret visits to the ball and all.
Malinda Lo has a nice prose style, and I really liked the way that the book uses the stories people tell to illuminate their character, but I don't think the book ever quite figured out what it wanted to be. By which I mean I think it wanted to be one of those Robin McKinley-ish dreamlike-but-grounded fairy-tale retellings, where all the magic is numinously ambiguous but the world itself is centered in the mundane details of the character's lives, but it never quite grounded itself enough, which left it in this weird unmoored space where it wasn't surreal and blazing enough to be entirely fairy-tale but the worldbuilding was nowhere near solid enough for it to feel realistic. I enjoyed reading it but it generally felt a bit slight.
On the other hand: WNHBBWL(BIAHL!)*
*would not have been better with lesbians (because it already has lesbians)
(Yes, I know, I'm two or three years behind most of the world on this but WHATEVER.)
Anyway: Ash. I'm not sure I actually have a ton to say about it! I read it on the bus on the way back from Boston. For those who don't know, Ash is a fairly straightforward Cinderella retelling, except the fairy godparent is an elf dude who's creepily in love with her, and instead of falling for the prince Our Heroine Ash falls for his chief huntress. Other than the love-interest twists, though, the story plays out mostly the same, evil stepmother and secret visits to the ball and all.
Malinda Lo has a nice prose style, and I really liked the way that the book uses the stories people tell to illuminate their character, but I don't think the book ever quite figured out what it wanted to be. By which I mean I think it wanted to be one of those Robin McKinley-ish dreamlike-but-grounded fairy-tale retellings, where all the magic is numinously ambiguous but the world itself is centered in the mundane details of the character's lives, but it never quite grounded itself enough, which left it in this weird unmoored space where it wasn't surreal and blazing enough to be entirely fairy-tale but the worldbuilding was nowhere near solid enough for it to feel realistic. I enjoyed reading it but it generally felt a bit slight.
On the other hand: WNHBBWL(BIAHL!)*
*would not have been better with lesbians (because it already has lesbians)
