The Story Peddler by
Lindsay A. Franklin
My rating:
3 of 5 stars
I received a free e-copy of this book from NetGalley for review purposes.
Last night I stayed up a little late just to finish this off, because I really couldn't leave it hanging until today with only one chapter to go. There is a lot to like in here, and I am definitely in for #2, but I did have a few hang-ups. Let's talk about the good:
Tanwen is not as wishy-washy as some of the female protagonists I've read, and while she's not yet the "strong woman" figure I like to see, she's on her way. The way she figures out her powers on her own, just by thinking about it - some would say that's a bit deus-ex-machina, but I read it more as she was discovering herself, by herself, instead of anyone else showing her who she is.
The story itself is interesting. Tanwen gets caught up in a scandal without realizing how or why (I still don't understand why the white strands were alarming; I assume we'll find out in book 2 - I hope), and finds herself on the run with a band of rebels who claim she needs to be protected. Her journey from there is somewhat predictable, but it was written well, with a lot of struggle and twists and turns.
Braith is about the strongest woman we get to see in this book. While I haaaaaaate her name (and the naming structure in general - it was very confusing and didn't make much sense to me), I absolutely adored her character. She was one of the few I felt got fleshed out to the "real" point, where she's not just words on a page but a breathing, evolving character.
There were some interesting foils in Sir Dray and High Priest Naith (or whatever his title was, I couldn't keep track of everyone). The little surprise with Naith in the end was completely unexpected, while I saw most of the other twists coming.
So let's talk about those twists. From the start I had a feeling that Tanwen was somehow related to the previous royal family, although admittedly I first pegged her as the king's bastard daughter because that's where most YA fantasies go with this kind of storyline. She wasn't nearly so important as that, but she was still pretty high up there. I still can't figure out why she specifically was a threat to the kingdom with her white strands, but there you go. Finding out who her father is/was (which was so super spoiled by the "The One In The Dark" chapters) led to a bit of an interesting revelation. But just about everything leading up to it was so obviously foreshadowed that it was impossible to be surprised.
If we're talking about wishy-washy characters, look no farther than Brac, the farmboy who loves Tanwen so blindly that he's willing to join the royal guard to convince her to marry him (a boneheaded move if I ever saw one, he's not too bright really). It's almost stalkerish how he practically begs Tanwen to marry him every time he sees her. She obviously doesn't want to marry him, and she's told him no several times, but he keeps persisting. Sad puppy stuff. Drove me nuts.
(view spoiler)[And can we talk about the accidental betrothal when Tanwen thinks he's dying? I mean, of all the dumb ideas... It was bad. There's this sad heartbreaking scene and we think Brac's so injured he's going to be dead in a matter of minutes, and then someone comes over and snaps Tanwen out of her tearful goodbye and tells her to back the f off so he can help the poor kid. Of course he's not at death's door, because Tanwen just agreed to marry him (thinking he was dying, because for some reason she forgot that the people who were with her have healing powers?) even though she's in love with Mor! This was a twist thrown into a love triangle that the story just did not need at all. (hide spoiler)]
The characters were also not that great. I had a hard time getting to know any of them. When I left the book last night, intending to write the review today, I knew I needed to stew on it a bit. Because I liked it, but there was something bugging me. I realized that I didn't remember any of the sideline characters. They never became real enough that they jumped off the page. They felt like background, filler, thrown in just to complete the gang. I really wanted to love them, because they're the good guys, but I never connected. Plus everyone kept telling Tanwen that they'd reveal all their secrets about her identity "in good time," and of course that time never came. Personally, I think the only reason to do that is to delay the surprise, when in reality the perfect time to tell someone about who she really is is right now, not three weeks down the line just because you don't feel like doing it right then. If you're driving the plot based on purposefully withheld necessary information, there's a problem there.
And lastly, let's talk about that ending.
(view spoiler)[Boy was that depressing. Brac's recovering from a stab to the nethers (or somewhere between the gut and the nethers, although there really isn't much distinction there so...I'm going with nethers), Tanwen has just found her father again but hasn't really talked to him in days, everyone and their brother nominates Braith to be queen, Gareth is dead by a mysterious story strand, and Tanwen just hops off with Mor to go on another adventure all over the world because the thing they need to help Griffelle is scattered in pieces lord knows where. It was really sad for me to read that she's ready to just hop to, run away, have her adventure, without even really reuniting with her father or telling Brac she didn't actually want to marry him. I know we needed to have a preview of the next adventure, but I was hoping for a little more "recovery" time. (hide spoiler)]
The negative seems like it should outweigh the positive, but I really did like reading this book. The adventure was interesting, the story strands was something I'd never seen before, and I love a good adventure. Predictable, not great characterization, and a bit of a rush-job ending, but I enjoyed the ride more than the specifics. Looking forward to book 2, hoping there's a bit more clean-up and deeper delving into characters.
View all my reviews
Dance of Thieves by Mary E. Pearson
