Talina in the Tower

Book Title: Talina in the Tower

Author: Michelle Lovric

Date Started: May 31st 2020

Date Completed: June 5th 2020

Genres: Historical, Adventure, Fantasy

Quality Rating: Three Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Two Stars

Final Rating: Three Stars

Review:

I adored Michelle Lovric's first children's novel, The Undrowned Child, when I was a kid - and it held up pretty well when I reread it. But sadly Talina in the Tower didn't have the same magic to it for me.

I'm aware that The Undrowned Child was quite fancily written for a children's book, but I don't remember having any trouble understanding it. Talina felt a lot more convoluted and quirky without actually feeling magical. It matches the grim darkness I was expecting from Lovric's previous books, but it loses the whimsy and spark that The Undrowned Child thrived on.

Of course, reading this book as an adult is bound to muddle up some of the enjoyment. I didn't feel much peril, but I suppose that's my age. The fact that nothing really happens, though, I think is more of a problem. There's no sense of momentum or cause an effect; lots of things just happen and I couldn't really keep track of them or how we were progressing at all. Maybe I'm overthinking it, but it might be a bit of an issue in a kid's book.

I imagine there's probably a crossover to The Undrowned Child at some point (pretty sure Gasperin was the protagonist's surname from that) and a lot of the reason I kept reading was to try and reach a point where Teo or another familiar face turned up. But I read 38% of the way through, and my enthusiasm wasn't quite enough to keep going anymore.