ARA Review by crkwiat of The Liminal
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crkwiat
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ARA Review by crkwiat of The Liminal
[Following is an OnlineBookClub.org ARA Review of the book, The Liminal.]
The Liminal by Michael Padjen
4 out of 5 stars
The Liminal by Michael Padjen is an exciting story where a young girl’s dreams are also a reality with real danger, created by stories that many people create and in turn, believe. Since fourteen-year-old Callie was ten, she has perfected her visits to this dreamworld, called the Liminal, by being able to consciously enter at will. Callie has come to realize, however, that her dreams have become dangerous since a half woman – half snake ‘Lady’ has become aware of her existence during her visits. For the past fifty years, the Lady has wanted to escape the Liminal and believes that Callie’s grandfather, Micky, is the only one who can release her. So as bait, she has held Micky’s cousin, Daniel, hostage. After a second kidnapping, a rescue plan is made.
Although an enjoyable read, I had trouble with the shifts in Point of View (POV) within chapters. From the very first chapter, I’m reading what Callie is doing and thinking, and all of a sudden, Micky’s inner thoughts are told. This occurs throughout the book, but I eventually got used to the omniscient point of view. Unfortunately I felt like this often led to the author telling the reader something, instead of showing the reader something. But on the flipside, I might have appreciated Daniel’s rather straight-forward explanation of the Liminal earlier in the book. It took me too long to understand what the Liminal was.
There were moments of failed logic as well. When a character went missing, they were calling the police at the same time they were trying to contact the missing person. I would think they would wait to call the police until after they tried to contact the missing person. Another instance is when Micky’s friends were mounting the rescue from a portal into the Liminal located in another state, and Micky was trying to join his friends instead of using another much closer portal to the same exact place. It took too long to figure out there was a better course of action.
Organization of chapters sometimes left me confused. A chapter with a dream fourteen-year-old Micky immediately precedes a chapter with a flashback of the real fourteen-year-old Micky, which led to some confusion about a nightmare Micky experienced.
The lack of contractions in dialogue made the conversations feel a little less real, and when Callie’s brother lectured Callie, he sounded like a parent instead of a brother. The dialogue with parents was always very stiff and formal.
Overall, I enjoyed the book. I was frustrated with some of the characters, as the author wanted, but I was cheering them on when they saw the truth. I hated other characters, as the author wanted, and the author gave me a satisfying end to their stories. I feel it was Micky’s story more than Callie’s story because I was more sympathetic to his character. I think he was written better than Callie, who in the first chapter came off as a hysterical teenager (which is perhaps what the author intended), but I had a difficult time leaving that stereotype behind. The final showdown was truly exciting, and the resolution was very satisfying, somewhat happy, and leaving the reader with a question to be answered in the next book. I’m giving this book a 4 out of 5 stars, citing my comments above. It’s better than three stars because the plot is sound, the ending is exciting, and the writing improves as you get further into the book.
***
View The Liminal on Bookshelves
The Liminal by Michael Padjen
4 out of 5 stars
The Liminal by Michael Padjen is an exciting story where a young girl’s dreams are also a reality with real danger, created by stories that many people create and in turn, believe. Since fourteen-year-old Callie was ten, she has perfected her visits to this dreamworld, called the Liminal, by being able to consciously enter at will. Callie has come to realize, however, that her dreams have become dangerous since a half woman – half snake ‘Lady’ has become aware of her existence during her visits. For the past fifty years, the Lady has wanted to escape the Liminal and believes that Callie’s grandfather, Micky, is the only one who can release her. So as bait, she has held Micky’s cousin, Daniel, hostage. After a second kidnapping, a rescue plan is made.
Although an enjoyable read, I had trouble with the shifts in Point of View (POV) within chapters. From the very first chapter, I’m reading what Callie is doing and thinking, and all of a sudden, Micky’s inner thoughts are told. This occurs throughout the book, but I eventually got used to the omniscient point of view. Unfortunately I felt like this often led to the author telling the reader something, instead of showing the reader something. But on the flipside, I might have appreciated Daniel’s rather straight-forward explanation of the Liminal earlier in the book. It took me too long to understand what the Liminal was.
There were moments of failed logic as well. When a character went missing, they were calling the police at the same time they were trying to contact the missing person. I would think they would wait to call the police until after they tried to contact the missing person. Another instance is when Micky’s friends were mounting the rescue from a portal into the Liminal located in another state, and Micky was trying to join his friends instead of using another much closer portal to the same exact place. It took too long to figure out there was a better course of action.
Organization of chapters sometimes left me confused. A chapter with a dream fourteen-year-old Micky immediately precedes a chapter with a flashback of the real fourteen-year-old Micky, which led to some confusion about a nightmare Micky experienced.
The lack of contractions in dialogue made the conversations feel a little less real, and when Callie’s brother lectured Callie, he sounded like a parent instead of a brother. The dialogue with parents was always very stiff and formal.
Overall, I enjoyed the book. I was frustrated with some of the characters, as the author wanted, but I was cheering them on when they saw the truth. I hated other characters, as the author wanted, and the author gave me a satisfying end to their stories. I feel it was Micky’s story more than Callie’s story because I was more sympathetic to his character. I think he was written better than Callie, who in the first chapter came off as a hysterical teenager (which is perhaps what the author intended), but I had a difficult time leaving that stereotype behind. The final showdown was truly exciting, and the resolution was very satisfying, somewhat happy, and leaving the reader with a question to be answered in the next book. I’m giving this book a 4 out of 5 stars, citing my comments above. It’s better than three stars because the plot is sound, the ending is exciting, and the writing improves as you get further into the book.
***
View The Liminal on Bookshelves
