Literary Beauty

Hmmm, I couldn’t really get in to this read. It began with not knowing what the hell was going on right from page one and ambiguity maintaining the same rhythm throughout. I also didn’t feel the sense of suspense I believe I was supposed to feel and then there it was, like an abrupt slap in the face, the crescendo…It left me dumbfounded to say the least.

Don’t get me wrong the idea is great and I think the series has potential but the execution fell a little short. Let’s start with the elevator scene, it was weird; I still don’t fully comprehend what happened there, was she supposed to be offended? Was the slap foreplay? Cause Vol went from being embarrassed to kind of liking him? What? And that instance was one of many that kind of left me with my face scrunched up, scratching my half-cocked head saying ”Huh?”. There wasn’t any explanation of the plot and I kept reading hoping that this shroud of confusion would eventually be alleviated, but it never happened. I was left with so many questions like; why did she wear contacts? Did she know her eye color wasn’t normal or did she wake up one day with them in and decided to keep them? How long has she lived in the Towers and what’s the last thing she remembered before she came to live there? How many districts were there? Were each district known for something special? The book kept hinting that each race had a gift (Maybe? Possibly?) because of the way they dressed or the type of food they were known for or how they carried themselves but that was it.

I also didn’t feel any emotion in the characters, they were kind of one dimensional. I understand that Vol lost her memory somehow and for whatever reason, but even being inside of her head was a little lackluster, I can’t put my finger on it but she didn’t feel real. I didn’t feel like I could be her, you know? Like when you read a character and you feel like you are them, you can see their world from their eyes and you understand why they feel the way they do when they feel it? I didn’t feel like I was there and I just couldn’t get attached to Vol. I couldn’t tell when she was mad other than when it was clearly stated. She didn’t feel, then she just reacted by slapping or punching or hurriedly leaving. Which is good and bad; on the one hand, I couldn’t hate her but on the other, I couldn’t love her either.

I dunno, maybe that’s it. There wasn’t any detail, everything just kind of blurred together…I kind of know what the Towers they lived in looked like, I kind of know the physical attributes of the characters and I kind of know what the city they live in looks like…maybe? Is it a wealthy city or a poor city? People tend to break their necks to get there, so I’m assuming it’s a wealthy city?

And lastly, I don’t know if Vol was supposed to be a good player or just an average player like everyone else. She seemed angry all of the time and she stated that she didn’t try to make friends but I would have thought that she would be good at something, like fighting and then wonder how she knew that move or black out and come to with players just sprawled out all around her. Then the memories were erratic, it felt to me that there were multiple memories in one memory but it wasn’t distinguished. I didn’t know where one ended and another began. There was one statement that mentioned if she ever wonder why she blacked out and people that were strangers to her would treat her as if she knew them…I instantly wondered, when the hell that ever happened cause it didn’t happen in the book I read.