The Girls in the Story

Cristina Chifane · Post by **Cristina Chifane** » 02 Sep 2019, 08:51

Tomah wrote: ↑01 Sep 2019, 14:23 I believe more points of view in general would benefit the book. Not only for the female characters, but the prince is also fairly underutilized. Indeed, it would've been interesting to see the prince and Emmy working together.

I have the feeling the author might surprise us with her future plans for the prince. My sensation was that he might turn into an antagonistic character in the future novels. Once he becomes a king, he might fall into the trap of self-sufficiency and the illusion of absolute power. Anyway, he didn't strike me as a very relatable character in this book either.

Kro92813 · Post by **Kro92813** » 02 Sep 2019, 23:28

cristinaro wrote: ↑02 Sep 2019, 08:43
Leah39 wrote: ↑01 Sep 2019, 07:56 YES! I'm so glad I'm not the only one who noticed this.

The story couldn't have happened without the women and girls, but they were all working behind the scenes.

Emmy and Valerie often ran interference and placed their own safety on the line for the boys, but were given background roles.

Cully Flower was an amazing help to the boys in their efforts to translate the book, but again, she just seemed like an afterthought.

This book reminded me in some ways of the {i}Harry Potter[/i] series minus Hermione, which just wouldn't have worked. I think that there should have been a more central role for at least one female character. Hopefully future books will have Emmy or another female character more involved in the main plot, rather than as a player on the sidelines.
I have to admit I was a bit confused and disappointed when Will found Emily and nothing spectacular followed or at least nothing emotional followed. After all, Emily was the reason why he ended up in Echoland in the first place. With Valerie, things seemed much better and I think she could easily join the boys' team in the next novel.

I 100% agree. The entire premise of the book is to find his sister. He finds her immediately and then she is hardly mentioned the rest of the book.

Washboard · Post by **Washboard** » 03 Sep 2019, 00:43

I think the story would have been better if the girls were given more important roles. Even though Emmy was a major plot point (the driving force of the book, other than escaping the Fate Sealers), she was given only a very small role. I was disappointed that she did not play a bigger part in the overall story.

Nisha Ward · Post by **Nisha Ward** » 03 Sep 2019, 10:24

Kro92813 wrote: ↑02 Sep 2019, 23:28
cristinaro wrote: ↑02 Sep 2019, 08:43
Leah39 wrote: ↑01 Sep 2019, 07:56 YES! I'm so glad I'm not the only one who noticed this.

The story couldn't have happened without the women and girls, but they were all working behind the scenes.

Emmy and Valerie often ran interference and placed their own safety on the line for the boys, but were given background roles.

Cully Flower was an amazing help to the boys in their efforts to translate the book, but again, she just seemed like an afterthought.

This book reminded me in some ways of the {i}Harry Potter[/i] series minus Hermione, which just wouldn't have worked. I think that there should have been a more central role for at least one female character. Hopefully future books will have Emmy or another female character more involved in the main plot, rather than as a player on the sidelines.
I have to admit I was a bit confused and disappointed when Will found Emily and nothing spectacular followed or at least nothing emotional followed. After all, Emily was the reason why he ended up in Echoland in the first place. With Valerie, things seemed much better and I think she could easily join the boys' team in the next novel.
I 100% agree. The entire premise of the book is to find his sister. He finds her immediately and then she is hardly mentioned the rest of the book.

Yeah. From the premise and opening of the book, it felt like Emmy was going to play a huge role that just never actually happened.

Cristina Chifane · Post by **Cristina Chifane** » 04 Sep 2019, 03:02

Nisha Ward wrote: ↑03 Sep 2019, 10:24
Kro92813 wrote: ↑02 Sep 2019, 23:28
cristinaro wrote: ↑02 Sep 2019, 08:43

I have to admit I was a bit confused and disappointed when Will found Emily and nothing spectacular followed or at least nothing emotional followed. After all, Emily was the reason why he ended up in Echoland in the first place. With Valerie, things seemed much better and I think she could easily join the boys' team in the next novel.
I 100% agree. The entire premise of the book is to find his sister. He finds her immediately and then she is hardly mentioned the rest of the book.
Yeah. From the premise and opening of the book, it felt like Emmy was going to play a huge role that just never actually happened.

I've just remembered something funny. When Will finds her, Emmy is quite furious with him for coming to Echoland to save her.

Cristina Chifane · Post by **Cristina Chifane** » 04 Sep 2019, 03:07

Falling4Ever wrote: ↑01 Sep 2019, 15:15 I totally agree. They talk so much about Emily being missing at the beginning of the book, but she never really fills the role that was put on her when she was missing. Also, I feel like Valerie was used more to fix plot holes than as an actual character to be developed.

I don't know about Valerie. I got attached to her character. Although she is constantly suspected and rejected by Peter, she keeps helping them. Besides, she is the only one that sees Valerian's true face.

Cristina Chifane · Post by **Cristina Chifane** » 04 Sep 2019, 03:12

esp1975 wrote: ↑01 Sep 2019, 16:11 I definitely would have like a little more with Emmy in this first book. I am hoping that maybe she and Valerie will be more central to the sequel that was hinted at in the end. But even more than Emmy and Valerie, Daia pretty much disappeared from the book after the beginning, and that really bothered me. I thought both she and Damien would have larger parts to play. At least Damien got to come back for a couple of scenes, but after the start, Daia was seen but not heard for the rest of the book.

Good point! I would have liked to see more of Dea and Damien too. I guess they were somehow replaced by Wolfea.

Sana Rabbani · Post by **Sana Rabbani** » 10 Sep 2019, 06:40

This is exactly what came to my mind while reading it. Why were the female characters deprived of being given a more substantial role? This would have made a great difference if they were given a central role in the book. Looking forward for them to get some reasonable position in the sequel.

Novelbound · Post by **Novelbound** » 10 Sep 2019, 08:33

It didn't bother me as I read the book, but now that you mention it, it does become more obvious. I did think that Emmy would have a much bigger role in the book than she did. She was the reason Will ended up in Echoland in the first place.

Kro92813 · Post by **Kro92813** » 10 Sep 2019, 21:46

melissy370 wrote: ↑01 Sep 2019, 08:34 Truthly, I did not even notice that all the main parts were boys. The story was so entertaining that those details didn't bother me.

I didn't notice it until this post either

Wanjugush · Post by **Wanjugush** » 11 Sep 2019, 12:41

I totaly agree with you. Girls/female characters were not 'visible' enough especially Emily. It feels like there so much more about her that I would love to know.

wordslinger42 · Post by **wordslinger42** » 13 Sep 2019, 10:44

cristinaro wrote: ↑01 Sep 2019, 01:50 Although I enjoyed reading the novel, I couldn't help noticing the female characters were given only marginal roles. Will's sister, Emily, and Valerie, Victor Valerian's niece, are the only girls in the story. They save the day more than once, yet I don't think they are given enough attention, especially Emily. Would you like them to acquire a central position in the future novels in the series?

I would love to see Emily play a greater role in the next book! It would be interesting to see things from her perspective and learn more about what happened to her during the time that she was separated from her family! Like you, I was happy to see that they the girls helped to save the day, even if their roles were smaller.

fmd1821 · Post by **fmd1821** » 14 Sep 2019, 03:37

I really hope they will become more important in the next stories. They deserve it, and they proved it!

mmm17 · Post by **mmm17** » 14 Sep 2019, 09:02

I absolutely agree with you. Emily, for instance, could have been much better developed. Male authors sometimes have difficulties portraying women, which I think is only natural. But it is frustrating, indeed. I, for one, prefer books and movies that equally develop both male and female characters.

Kro92813 · Post by **Kro92813** » 14 Sep 2019, 19:56

mmm17 wrote: ↑14 Sep 2019, 09:02 I absolutely agree with you. Emily, for instance, could have been much better developed. Male authors sometimes have difficulties portraying women, which I think is only natural. But it is frustrating, indeed. I, for one, prefer books and movies that equally develop both male and female characters.

It may be true that Male authors have a harder time portraying women, but Dew Pellucid is a female author