The Magic and the Healing
Author:
Genres: Children's Books, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Teen & Young Adult
Book Type: Paperback
Author:
Genres: Children's Books, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Teen & Young Adult
Book Type: Paperback
The concept alone had me hooked on this book. When I read the premise of a veterinarian tending to mythological creatures, I thought How can this not be good? And I wasnt wrong as it is definitely good. But it misses the mark of being really great.
While the concept is a hit, everything else in the book is a bit of a struggle to get through. The overall plot, writing, and characters are harder to swallow. Characterization is severely lacking. Of the three female vet students that make up the main group of five human characters, they were nearly interchangeable. BJ stands out but only because shes the focus on the story; poor Lee Anne and Annie are completely identical. The two males, Dave and Sugar, get off a little better but not by much.
The writing is very odd. The author will often have characters react in ways that make no sense. Its hard to explain but they just respond to things in abnormal ways that left me thinking Wait, why are they doing/thinking that?
The plot of an invasion into Crossroads is okay but it felt very unnecessary. There was so much more that could have been done with the vet students that a much simpler overall plot would have been sufficient and allowed the students to do their thing. As it stands, the high points of the story are when the vets get to work with mythical animals but those moments are few and far between.
At this moment, Ive read the second book in the trilogy but not the third. Unfortunately, the second book takes the good parts of the first and uses them much more sparingly, filling in the rest with more unnecessary characters (when most of the ones we already have get precious little characterization) and more dull overall story. There was a huge amount of potential in this idea, and some of it was briefly touched in this story, however I think a different writer could have made it an even better tale. The good parts are really excellent but they sadly get bogged down in a lot of the bad.
While the concept is a hit, everything else in the book is a bit of a struggle to get through. The overall plot, writing, and characters are harder to swallow. Characterization is severely lacking. Of the three female vet students that make up the main group of five human characters, they were nearly interchangeable. BJ stands out but only because shes the focus on the story; poor Lee Anne and Annie are completely identical. The two males, Dave and Sugar, get off a little better but not by much.
The writing is very odd. The author will often have characters react in ways that make no sense. Its hard to explain but they just respond to things in abnormal ways that left me thinking Wait, why are they doing/thinking that?
The plot of an invasion into Crossroads is okay but it felt very unnecessary. There was so much more that could have been done with the vet students that a much simpler overall plot would have been sufficient and allowed the students to do their thing. As it stands, the high points of the story are when the vets get to work with mythical animals but those moments are few and far between.
At this moment, Ive read the second book in the trilogy but not the third. Unfortunately, the second book takes the good parts of the first and uses them much more sparingly, filling in the rest with more unnecessary characters (when most of the ones we already have get precious little characterization) and more dull overall story. There was a huge amount of potential in this idea, and some of it was briefly touched in this story, however I think a different writer could have made it an even better tale. The good parts are really excellent but they sadly get bogged down in a lot of the bad.
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