So, I have kind of been putting off my last post. But alas, here it is and I hope my opinions will not seem too harsh. But there are several things about this story that just did not appeal to me at the end. In regards to characters, I still do not like Rebekkah. Minus crazy killers, I for the most part felt more of a connection with and liked everyone but her.
The whole instinct to constantly run away is a major put off but then she does this unbelievable 180 at the end that left me dumbfounded. A person just does not instantly change and if being a Graveminder was instinctual then there should have been major personality changes from the beginning. I was also hoping that being a Graveminder would have been more of a struggle. All the dead just lined up and followed her and in the end, at least to me, the town perceived the job to be harder then it was. The dead pretty much came to her, followed her without question or struggle and TA DA the world is a better place. 99.9% of the struggle was emotional, but that was about it.
I also agree with Katie that some of the chapter lengths were frustrating and more then once I wondered why certain scenes that did not seem crucial to the plot where inserted. But the thing that irked me the most was that Marr spent so much time in the beginning building this world then BOOM -- All the action takes place in the last 60 or so pages. What? Where is the buildup? I would rather have had the book longer to accommodate for a smoother transition. Everything felt so rushed at the end.
Then we get to Cissy. Honestly, I felt having her be the bad guy was kind of a cop out. And I agree that I didn't see her as someone that would be willing to get her hands dirty. And in regards to the murders, I was hoping for something more unique. Maybe an unearthly influence from the outside or someone that Mr. D had wronged. In a world full of infinite possibilities, I just felt Marr could have done better then Cissy.
Marr where is my love story twist?! Alas, it is non-existent. I understand that most people love happily ever afters, but I was hoping for something else--A twist of any kind. But there was none. They seemingly end up together forever. Now, there is nothing wrong with that but I wish it was less idyllic. Who knows, maybe Marr has a sequel up her sleeve that will add some more oomph to the story. If not, then I still view Marr as a great writer and understand that though I might now like all her books, I still admire the work she has and will do.
Looking back, I think Marr needed to clarify some things in the book. Rebekkah's Graveminder instincts don't kick in until Byron tells her but the dead recognize her as the Graveminder way before that. I think there needed to be a moment where the Graveminder instincts are turned on like at Maylene's funeral or when Byron signed his contract. Then we could've seen normal Rebekkah and then Graveminder Rebekkah and the 180 transition would've been believable.
ReplyDeleteI think if Cissy was going to be the villain, there needed to more character development. I was afraid to admit it in my post, but I didn't understand Cissy's plan for taking over as Graveminder and I didn't know if I just missed something.
I really hope Marr reconsiders writing a sequel because I would really like to see a story of the contract being broken or maybe Alicia's causing some upset that just changes the way of the Graveminder and Undertaker.
I'm in agreement as well about the Graveminder instinct, not only do the dead notice her, but she had to have some pull there as well. She witnessed her grandmother perform the task several times, and she noticed some weird stuff too, either she was clueless or just dumb.
ReplyDeleteAND I am so with you guys about the chapters, there were some in there that just seemed like too much fluff.