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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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.