Dubi reviewed Ravenous by MarcyKate Connolly
Review of 'Ravenous' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
I loved Monstrous. I loved the world, the characters, and the illustrations. Kim was such a wonderful character - naive but likeable and relatable.
In Ravenous, I still loved the illustrations, but the rest was... Lacklustre. The main character, Greta, is annoyingly suspicious and treacherous, often without any justification other than that it moves the plot along. I'm wary of applying to strict a rational standard to what is basically a fairytale, but there is a limit to my suspension of disbelief, and this story crossed it.
But more importantly, I just didn't like Greta. I wasn't emotionally invested in her because she is not a likable person. I certainly don't think she'll be a good queen.
I'm sort of at a loss as to what is the moral of the story here, frankly. I'm not sure it's a very good one, at the very least.
The prequel novella I …
I loved Monstrous. I loved the world, the characters, and the illustrations. Kim was such a wonderful character - naive but likeable and relatable.
In Ravenous, I still loved the illustrations, but the rest was... Lacklustre. The main character, Greta, is annoyingly suspicious and treacherous, often without any justification other than that it moves the plot along. I'm wary of applying to strict a rational standard to what is basically a fairytale, but there is a limit to my suspension of disbelief, and this story crossed it.
But more importantly, I just didn't like Greta. I wasn't emotionally invested in her because she is not a likable person. I certainly don't think she'll be a good queen.
I'm sort of at a loss as to what is the moral of the story here, frankly. I'm not sure it's a very good one, at the very least.
The prequel novella I trudged through more from inertia than interest in the back story of the world Connolly built. It was even more disappointing, suffering from many of the same drawbacks, but more so. Why is there an unguarded hoard of jewels that nobody raided for decades? How come two kids find a key that was 'lost for generations' by applying some commonsense for all of twn minutes? So many plot holes, so little believability. Even for a fairytale.
I think it's time for Connolly to leave Bryre behind and seek new worlds to explore.