The Girls in the Story

Use this forum to discuss the September 2019 Book of the month, "The Crystilleries of Echoland" by Dew Pellucid.
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Cristina Chifane
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The Girls in the Story

Post by Cristina Chifane »

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?
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Post by gali »

I agree that the girls weren't given the attention their deserved.

I hope they will acquire a central position in the next books.
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Post by Stephanie Elizabeth »

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?
Agreed-- it would have been nice for the females to have starring roles with more substance.
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Post by Leah39 »

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.
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Post by gali »

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.
Ditto! It reminded me of {i}Harry Potter[/i] series in other ways as well.
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Post by Leah39 »

gali wrote: 01 Sep 2019, 08:06
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.
Ditto! It reminded me of {i}Harry Potter[/i] series in other ways as well.
Especially when they described the Crystalmas decorations and fair. I could just visualize the scenes in the books and movies around the holidays! It was just potter-esque enough without being too similar.
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Post by melissy370 »

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.
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Post by KDJ »

Absolutely, especially for Emmy. I was expecting a much larger role for her. But I think the author wrote it where if she did too much, she would draw attention to William. I agree her and Valerie ran interference and granted assistance throughout the story.
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Post by Tomah »

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.
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Post by Falling4Ever »

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.
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Post by Erin Painter Baker »

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.
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Post by Benthic »

I really like a novel with strong female personalities. It really makes the novel more intriguing and interesting.
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Post by Benthic »

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.
Same here, I feel that Emily can have such a bigger part to play than what she does here. I hope she does in the author's next books
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Post by Cristina Chifane »

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.
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Cristina Chifane
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Post by Cristina Chifane »

Leah39 wrote: 01 Sep 2019, 08:10
gali wrote: 01 Sep 2019, 08:06
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.
Ditto! It reminded me of {i}Harry Potter[/i] series in other ways as well.
Especially when they described the Crystalmas decorations and fair. I could just visualize the scenes in the books and movies around the holidays! It was just potter-esque enough without being too similar.
I couldn't have said it better even if I wanted to: "potter-esque enough without being too similar." That was exactly my feeling when I've read the book. :)
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