nerd teacher [books] reviewed The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline B. Cooney (Janie Johnson, #1)
Excruciatingly dull.
2 stars
I generally really like narratives that are driven by characters, where the focus is primarily on the characters themselves and how one little thing can upend their whole lives... but this book so, so dull.
Also, I wanted to like it because the concept is interesting (a kidnapped child who is unaware that they were kidnapped as a toddler and discovers it because of one small constant "Missing Person" reminder? Intriguing).
Part of the problem is that, as with many books where the characters are teenagers, the author has seemingly forgotten who teenagers are and how to relate to them. And while I'm quite aware that teenagers are prone to being silly and doing goofy things (as everyone is prone to being), a lot of the moments felt distinctly like the ways that adults view teenagers rather than the ways that teenagers actually are. The conversations felt stilted and fake, …
I generally really like narratives that are driven by characters, where the focus is primarily on the characters themselves and how one little thing can upend their whole lives... but this book so, so dull.
Also, I wanted to like it because the concept is interesting (a kidnapped child who is unaware that they were kidnapped as a toddler and discovers it because of one small constant "Missing Person" reminder? Intriguing).
Part of the problem is that, as with many books where the characters are teenagers, the author has seemingly forgotten who teenagers are and how to relate to them. And while I'm quite aware that teenagers are prone to being silly and doing goofy things (as everyone is prone to being), a lot of the moments felt distinctly like the ways that adults view teenagers rather than the ways that teenagers actually are. The conversations felt stilted and fake, the relationship structure felt fake... It just... nothing felt genuine.
If anything, I'd attribute that to this book really needing to be... a novella, at most. Definitely a short story. The character focus felt less like something the author wanted to do and more like a way to build up fluff, the way a person would do for an essay that has a wordcount they can't meet.
