Castor Starr reviewed Dark and Shallow Lies by Ginny Myers Sain
Review of 'Dark and Shallow Lies' on 'GoodReads'
2 stars
TW: mentioned murder/drowning of children, mentioned abuse, mentioned self harm, arson & death by fire, strangulation, romantic relationship between step-siblings
I received an ARC from Edelweiss
2
Things have been different in La Cachette since last summer, when Grey's best friend disappeared. After a summer of being pushed away by her, Elora's disappearance is pain on top of pain. And, strangest of all, Grey's lack of the kind of powers the rest of the kids there have suddenly seems to be sparking to life, letting her feel what Elora was feeling. With an extra sense and her connection to her best friend, plus a mysterious stranger who knew her as well, can Grey solve this mystery for once and for all?
This book would have been popular in 2009, but unfortunately times have changed, and I don't think its target audience is that large. I know that I for one …
TW: mentioned murder/drowning of children, mentioned abuse, mentioned self harm, arson & death by fire, strangulation, romantic relationship between step-siblings
I received an ARC from Edelweiss
2
Things have been different in La Cachette since last summer, when Grey's best friend disappeared. After a summer of being pushed away by her, Elora's disappearance is pain on top of pain. And, strangest of all, Grey's lack of the kind of powers the rest of the kids there have suddenly seems to be sparking to life, letting her feel what Elora was feeling. With an extra sense and her connection to her best friend, plus a mysterious stranger who knew her as well, can Grey solve this mystery for once and for all?
This book would have been popular in 2009, but unfortunately times have changed, and I don't think its target audience is that large. I know that I for one am certainly not in it.
There's a mix of paranormal elements, a mish mash of characters, a really weird love triangle, and an intrepid girl trying to save a loved one. It has all the trappings of a late 2000s era YA, and maybe there are people out there who are craving that even now.
However, there was just nothing here for me. The whole world and premise of the magic felt like a regurgitation from other books, with nothing unique to it, and the only interesting thing that got brought in- the rougaru- gets dropped completely as a plot point.
The love triangle also feels like its ripped from a hundred other books, and this one is inelegant, has no chemistry or sense involved what so ever, and gives the main character zero autonomy. It was actually kind of painful to watch, and I'll admit I speed read through a lot of those scenes.
The twist, the answer to the mystery, could have been something interesting. But it was one part incredibly obvious (as well as borrowed from quite a few other popular works), and one part just full out ridiculous. There was nothing there that was interesting, or felt realistic.
I just did not like this book at all, or the experience of reading it. Again, I'm sure other people will, and had it come out a decade ago it would have had its time to shine. But this is just way too much a mash of other books and old, over-used tropes for me to get anything from it.
Pre-review comments below
That was... a struggle