So, introducing my first feature: Triple Snapsnots. Inspired by Hyper-Parfait's Triple Delights, this feature will contain my scattered thoughts on whatever Three Novels I decide to do a snapshot on for this feature. (The only real reason why it isn't called "delights" is because I can't guarantee I'll always be happy about the novels I'm doing a snapshot of)
1. Exclusively Chloe by J. A. Yang - Just when I thought there was nothing more to offer in the whole asian adoptee storyline, out comes J.A. Yang, who combines this with Celebrity life story, and the combination was pure gold. Asian Adoptee story with minimal angst. Wee~ Also, love Luther and the whole undercover at "normal" school to find long lost relative subplot. I thought Chloe-Grace's friends could have been better fleshed out though. For the whole novel, I felt like they never really went beyond the stock type personality... But this didn't deter me from enjoying the novel, at any rate. =D Highly recced for those who are looking for a YA novel that's light-hearted and fun.
2. Silver Phoenix by Cindy Pon - The one major thing that blew me away in this novel: the ABUNDANT chinese mythology reference. I don't think I've seen so many chinese mythical creatures crammed into one novel. Which, in my books, I say is a great thing because one can never have too many chinese mythical creatures. >D It was a really fast paced read, and the setting was amazingly vivid. Unfortunately, I wasn't really a big fan of the characters. They all felt rather... flat. But I suppose the magic stuff makes up for it. =D Oh! And a random nitpick: I'm not a big fan of the people of this world being referred to as "Xi'an". I look at it, and all I can think of is the actual province (the one w/ the terracotta warriors, etc) that exists in China. But it's not a big deal... Recommended to all fantasy fans who like their mythology, but warning: do NOT read this while hungry. =D =D
3. Secondhand World by Katherine Min - Um... I really didn't get this novel? I don't know, it felt like this story was trying to do so much at once, with the whole marital affair and the romance between Isadora and Hero and the death of the kid brother and... I don't know. All this stuff, it just didn't seem terribly cohesive. And I know that the fire was supposed to be the centrepoint that brings all these storylines together, but for me, it didn't work... And Isadora always felt very distant to me. There'd be brief moments where I feel like I can connect, but for a large part of the novel I didn't get her at all... But I think this may just be one of those It's-Not-You-It's-Me moments. =/ I did like the structure of the novel though, for what it's worth.
