Where I got it: ARC from Publisher for review
Rating: 2 stars
Cover Rating: 5 stars (Gorgeous!)
Genre: Young Adult
Publication Date: June 30, 2011
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
Page Count: 367 p.
Buy it: Book Depository / Amazon
"Know Thyself" Consuela hears these words whispered out to her from a changing room mirror. This is when her life starts to change. She goes home to take a bath and when she wakes up everything it different. She finds herself in a place called the Flow. Here are people that are somewhere between life and death and are called upon to save others from death. Consuela finds that to help with her saving people, she can remove her own skin and make a new one out of practically anything; fire, feathers, air, all become her wardrobe. Everyone in the Flow is happy and helpful, and though she misses home, she doesn't totally mind being in the Flow. Then the murders start and everything spins into chaos. No one knows what is happening or who is doing it. If they aren't stopped though, the Flow could be completely destroyed along with everyone in it.
This was a very interesting concept, it is a nice take on near-death experience. It would be fantastic to change and create skins as Consuela does, so much freedom and adventure. So there are a couple of reasons I had to rate this low. One thing that bugged me was that Dawn Metcalf tends to repeat herself a lot throughout the whole novel. It is an ARC, and maybe all the repeats are cut out in the finished copy, but I doubt it. There just seems to be a tendency to reiterate things that had already been said within the same chapter, page or paragraph. "He wasn't here, yet, but like a shark with blood in the water, Tender could smell betrayal in the Flow. Wish knew—Tender wasn't here, but would be soon. And, like a shark, Tender was made for killing." That sort of thing happened more often than I would have liked. Characters would come to a conclusion and then come to that conclusion a few pages later and so on and so forth. The book could have been much shorter if the unnecessary repetition was removed.
The names were fairly odd, but lent to the whole weird dream-like world. After a while of reading this I had to put it down. It was just taking me forever to get through it and I never wanted to read it. I read a few more books, and then picked this one back up. I did love the descriptions. The flowery part of the writing was awesome, which is what kept me reading for so long. I wouldn't have finished this if I hadn't already gotten so far into it. I did thing about not finishing it a few times, but decided to just get it done with. There was a lot of world building, without too much happening in the beginning, and then the conflict and resolution seemed rushed. All of a sudden lots of stuff was happening and nothing was throughly explained. I felt like the ending was disappointing and mostly left me feeling a bit confused. I'm not really sure what happened to most of the characters, as it was never properly explained. Some explanations were alluded to, but nothing definitive. This book had a fantastic cover and some great descriptive writing, I may pick up another novel by this author, but I'm not excited about it.
First Line:
"Consuela wrestled with an armload of jeans, trying to catch the hangers on insufficient hooks."
Favorite Lines:
"Consuela knew that if she tried on a skin again, felt the rush of powerful freedom-thought, she'd understand; but the seduction was like a drug."
"Everything in her room was cold, but the candlewicks along the bath shimmered, whispers of wanting—light called to light, two flames become one—as simple as two magnets kissing with a click."
"Know Thyself" Consuela hears these words whispered out to her from a changing room mirror. This is when her life starts to change. She goes home to take a bath and when she wakes up everything it different. She finds herself in a place called the Flow. Here are people that are somewhere between life and death and are called upon to save others from death. Consuela finds that to help with her saving people, she can remove her own skin and make a new one out of practically anything; fire, feathers, air, all become her wardrobe. Everyone in the Flow is happy and helpful, and though she misses home, she doesn't totally mind being in the Flow. Then the murders start and everything spins into chaos. No one knows what is happening or who is doing it. If they aren't stopped though, the Flow could be completely destroyed along with everyone in it.
This was a very interesting concept, it is a nice take on near-death experience. It would be fantastic to change and create skins as Consuela does, so much freedom and adventure. So there are a couple of reasons I had to rate this low. One thing that bugged me was that Dawn Metcalf tends to repeat herself a lot throughout the whole novel. It is an ARC, and maybe all the repeats are cut out in the finished copy, but I doubt it. There just seems to be a tendency to reiterate things that had already been said within the same chapter, page or paragraph. "He wasn't here, yet, but like a shark with blood in the water, Tender could smell betrayal in the Flow. Wish knew—Tender wasn't here, but would be soon. And, like a shark, Tender was made for killing." That sort of thing happened more often than I would have liked. Characters would come to a conclusion and then come to that conclusion a few pages later and so on and so forth. The book could have been much shorter if the unnecessary repetition was removed.
The names were fairly odd, but lent to the whole weird dream-like world. After a while of reading this I had to put it down. It was just taking me forever to get through it and I never wanted to read it. I read a few more books, and then picked this one back up. I did love the descriptions. The flowery part of the writing was awesome, which is what kept me reading for so long. I wouldn't have finished this if I hadn't already gotten so far into it. I did thing about not finishing it a few times, but decided to just get it done with. There was a lot of world building, without too much happening in the beginning, and then the conflict and resolution seemed rushed. All of a sudden lots of stuff was happening and nothing was throughly explained. I felt like the ending was disappointing and mostly left me feeling a bit confused. I'm not really sure what happened to most of the characters, as it was never properly explained. Some explanations were alluded to, but nothing definitive. This book had a fantastic cover and some great descriptive writing, I may pick up another novel by this author, but I'm not excited about it.
First Line:
"Consuela wrestled with an armload of jeans, trying to catch the hangers on insufficient hooks."
Favorite Lines:
"Consuela knew that if she tried on a skin again, felt the rush of powerful freedom-thought, she'd understand; but the seduction was like a drug."
"Everything in her room was cold, but the candlewicks along the bath shimmered, whispers of wanting—light called to light, two flames become one—as simple as two magnets kissing with a click."
Hmmm, the cover reminds me of A Little Wanting Song so for a second there I thought this was part of the series. Too bad this one isn't too great. Thanks for the honest review :)
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your review. I like your honesty. Following you. :)
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