Of Scars and Stardust by Andrea Hannah
-
rls1226
- Posts: 11
- Joined: 23 Aug 2016, 16:10
- Bookshelf Size: 0
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-rls1226.html
Of Scars and Stardust by Andrea Hannah
3 stars
I was intrigued by the blurb for this novel. The cover and title made it even more enticing, especially when you’re a sucker for those sorts of things. Yet, I’m wobbling in the middle on this one. Part of me considered rating it higher because there were chapters that I really enjoyed and the storyline had great possibility. But another part of me considered a lower rating because I spent much of this novel confused and not trusting the narrator (not in a good way). So my rating is going to land in the middle.
An interesting mystery tied up in the strong possibility of an unstable narrator, there was a lot of potential here. I don’t mind an unstable narrator at all, as long as I can follow what’s going on or figure it out in the end. Claire was sent away from home to live with her aunt in New York after her sister, Ella, was brutally attacked—by wolves, Claire insists—and can’t handle the situation that surrounds her. Claire wants the reader to believe that wolves were the perpetrator and is convinced that the wolves have followed her to New York and are watching. I liked it. I was good with the setup and could overlook missing details for a while.
I enjoyed the beginning of the novel, despite the slow start, and there were a few chapters here and there that really pulled me in. Unfortunately, the book fell flat for me overall. There were parts that just seemed to go on forever, times when not much happened at all. And then there were times when I was so confused that I had to walk away from the book. I believe Andrea Hannah was trying to convey the chaos in Claire’s head, which I can respect, but it did nothing to help me follow the story or anything to make me want to follow the story. I’ve read many books with unstable characters where it was possible to keep up but this one lost me far too often.
I liked Claire in a weird sort of way but I never trusted her, not once. From the get-go, I was fairly confident that she wasn’t reliable and that her version of things was extremely skewed. So I set my sights on who might be the next character to help me unravel this mystery. But I couldn’t find one. Everyone seemed so shady, including her love interest, Grant, who had no issues giving everything up, including his career with the local police station that he seemed to love, to befriend her. The entire time, I could feel that each character was keeping things from me and I didn’t like it. It felt too intentional.
Claire’s obsession with the wolves was a better part of the novel, but the number of times she mentioned them became a little daunting. I could definitely feel both a fear from her concerning them, as well as her aching need to go with them and, in her mind, save everyone else from them. Redeeming qualities for Claire.
While the ending was okay, I must admit that the images I’d concocted in my head about what had happened were much more interesting than what really did happen. With that said, I didn’t guess the ending, but that probably had a lot more to do with how mild it was compared to what I thought I was coming. I also would’ve cared for more explanation. For a novel that seemed to drag, the ending felt incredibly rushed and haphazardly thrown together. Maybe that’s all supposed to contribute to the chaotic nature of the book and the main character but, in my opinion, it all worked against it.
This wasn’t a bad read, and others may enjoy it quite a bit. It just wasn’t for me. It’s short and a relatively quick read, despite the chaos of the MC’s narration. Proceed with slight caution.
Received a digital ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review, via Netgalley.
I was intrigued by the blurb for this novel. The cover and title made it even more enticing, especially when you’re a sucker for those sorts of things. Yet, I’m wobbling in the middle on this one. Part of me considered rating it higher because there were chapters that I really enjoyed and the storyline had great possibility. But another part of me considered a lower rating because I spent much of this novel confused and not trusting the narrator (not in a good way). So my rating is going to land in the middle.
An interesting mystery tied up in the strong possibility of an unstable narrator, there was a lot of potential here. I don’t mind an unstable narrator at all, as long as I can follow what’s going on or figure it out in the end. Claire was sent away from home to live with her aunt in New York after her sister, Ella, was brutally attacked—by wolves, Claire insists—and can’t handle the situation that surrounds her. Claire wants the reader to believe that wolves were the perpetrator and is convinced that the wolves have followed her to New York and are watching. I liked it. I was good with the setup and could overlook missing details for a while.
I enjoyed the beginning of the novel, despite the slow start, and there were a few chapters here and there that really pulled me in. Unfortunately, the book fell flat for me overall. There were parts that just seemed to go on forever, times when not much happened at all. And then there were times when I was so confused that I had to walk away from the book. I believe Andrea Hannah was trying to convey the chaos in Claire’s head, which I can respect, but it did nothing to help me follow the story or anything to make me want to follow the story. I’ve read many books with unstable characters where it was possible to keep up but this one lost me far too often.
I liked Claire in a weird sort of way but I never trusted her, not once. From the get-go, I was fairly confident that she wasn’t reliable and that her version of things was extremely skewed. So I set my sights on who might be the next character to help me unravel this mystery. But I couldn’t find one. Everyone seemed so shady, including her love interest, Grant, who had no issues giving everything up, including his career with the local police station that he seemed to love, to befriend her. The entire time, I could feel that each character was keeping things from me and I didn’t like it. It felt too intentional.
Claire’s obsession with the wolves was a better part of the novel, but the number of times she mentioned them became a little daunting. I could definitely feel both a fear from her concerning them, as well as her aching need to go with them and, in her mind, save everyone else from them. Redeeming qualities for Claire.
While the ending was okay, I must admit that the images I’d concocted in my head about what had happened were much more interesting than what really did happen. With that said, I didn’t guess the ending, but that probably had a lot more to do with how mild it was compared to what I thought I was coming. I also would’ve cared for more explanation. For a novel that seemed to drag, the ending felt incredibly rushed and haphazardly thrown together. Maybe that’s all supposed to contribute to the chaotic nature of the book and the main character but, in my opinion, it all worked against it.
This wasn’t a bad read, and others may enjoy it quite a bit. It just wasn’t for me. It’s short and a relatively quick read, despite the chaos of the MC’s narration. Proceed with slight caution.
Received a digital ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review, via Netgalley.
