Review: Sea of Shadows by Kelly Armstrong
Posted: 19 Jun 2014, 00:22
Terrifying, confusing, difficult to have labled as a young adult fiction. Kelly Armstronng's novel "Sea of Shadown" was compelling in a very different way from most books that have made it to the best seller of young adult fiction list. The story was quick paced but often i had to force myself to read the next page and the next page in order to get through the 400 page start to what i assume will be a multi book series. I do not particularily have any reservations about a book that i find to be dark but i will simply say i have no interest in reading the works that will follow "Sea of Shadows".
The story seems to be set in a distant past but its extremely difficult to tell. The author often uses language that would be consistent with what i imagine to be small villages in the present (unlikely but possible) or villages set in a far distant past. The confusion for me is that often i found myself not lost in a world of the past but reading paslsages that seemed to reflect the most modern english, but i digress.The story follows two twins,who are blessed (sort of) to be such and have special abilities to be in leauge with the spirit world. One of the twins must perform a ritual to put to rest the spirits of the dead (which reside in some terrible forest-where treachourous sorts from other villags are exiled<--i think?) in a terrible forest. Upon her trial on doing this she discovers great danger and her world is torn asunder. She races off to find her twin sister and the adventure of the book ensues. The story brings two counterpart characters to each of the twin sisters journeys and we follow them along to find out just exactly what happened to the twins' world.
What i enjoyed about this book is that it's certainly a different story than the recent young adult fiction i've been reading.Everything you might anticipate for a hero's journey exists in the telling of the adventures of both girls but it's hard to guess what the author will do next. There's honor, and heroism, possible romance and allegances, threats of war, and of course encounters with lots of beasts that should never exist in the twins world. The book has a lot of twists and adventure and it certainly suggests the audience participate in attempting to navigate the storyline. The story is enganging enough and i do believe it is the type of book fans of any of the Brothers Grimm stories would appreciated.
Perhaps the biggest conflict for me in finishing this book was the incosnsitent language. There were often times where i felt i was being transported to the past only to be jolted back to the present with words and sentences that could only have been constructed by mondern,American English. It is hard to continue to imagine a story that you do not have a conclusive setting for. In addition the constant foolishness of the girls and their inabilities is difficult to relate to and as such it makes it difficult to become invested in their well being. There are often parts of the story in which, if you the reader were truly immersed, you would hold your breath hoping for the best but instead i found myself passively turning the pages wondering just how long it would take me to finish the book instead of what was going to happen, or trying to figure out just exactly what the climactic obstacle of the book was. This author is renowned as a best seller though and i'm certain there are many out therer who love all of her works including this one, but i will likely not read anything written by Armstrong (at least not in the very near future, and certainly not to children) again.
In conclusion, I understand that by reputation Armstrong is a great writer. Her novel followed the heros journeys path, and i was left with a cliffhanger undoubtedly to make sure i read the next book but the prboability is extrodinarily low. If you are an avid consumer of dark fairy tales perhaps "Sea of Shadows" will be to your liking but i would not reccomend this particular story to my friends.
Thank you for reading this review,
JessiAnne
The story seems to be set in a distant past but its extremely difficult to tell. The author often uses language that would be consistent with what i imagine to be small villages in the present (unlikely but possible) or villages set in a far distant past. The confusion for me is that often i found myself not lost in a world of the past but reading paslsages that seemed to reflect the most modern english, but i digress.The story follows two twins,who are blessed (sort of) to be such and have special abilities to be in leauge with the spirit world. One of the twins must perform a ritual to put to rest the spirits of the dead (which reside in some terrible forest-where treachourous sorts from other villags are exiled<--i think?) in a terrible forest. Upon her trial on doing this she discovers great danger and her world is torn asunder. She races off to find her twin sister and the adventure of the book ensues. The story brings two counterpart characters to each of the twin sisters journeys and we follow them along to find out just exactly what happened to the twins' world.
What i enjoyed about this book is that it's certainly a different story than the recent young adult fiction i've been reading.Everything you might anticipate for a hero's journey exists in the telling of the adventures of both girls but it's hard to guess what the author will do next. There's honor, and heroism, possible romance and allegances, threats of war, and of course encounters with lots of beasts that should never exist in the twins world. The book has a lot of twists and adventure and it certainly suggests the audience participate in attempting to navigate the storyline. The story is enganging enough and i do believe it is the type of book fans of any of the Brothers Grimm stories would appreciated.
Perhaps the biggest conflict for me in finishing this book was the incosnsitent language. There were often times where i felt i was being transported to the past only to be jolted back to the present with words and sentences that could only have been constructed by mondern,American English. It is hard to continue to imagine a story that you do not have a conclusive setting for. In addition the constant foolishness of the girls and their inabilities is difficult to relate to and as such it makes it difficult to become invested in their well being. There are often parts of the story in which, if you the reader were truly immersed, you would hold your breath hoping for the best but instead i found myself passively turning the pages wondering just how long it would take me to finish the book instead of what was going to happen, or trying to figure out just exactly what the climactic obstacle of the book was. This author is renowned as a best seller though and i'm certain there are many out therer who love all of her works including this one, but i will likely not read anything written by Armstrong (at least not in the very near future, and certainly not to children) again.
In conclusion, I understand that by reputation Armstrong is a great writer. Her novel followed the heros journeys path, and i was left with a cliffhanger undoubtedly to make sure i read the next book but the prboability is extrodinarily low. If you are an avid consumer of dark fairy tales perhaps "Sea of Shadows" will be to your liking but i would not reccomend this particular story to my friends.
Thank you for reading this review,
JessiAnne