Dayna Lorentz

Kk This book was fun! Great premise. About 1/4 of the way Imin I got bored, set it down, and didn’t return for years.

By then I had forgotten there were four different perspectives. It was a bit of a jolt to get back on the train. However, once ai did I remembered why I had set it down in the first place.

The characters are shallow. It’s almost as if the author is trying to hard to make them “real”, but fails in trying so hard. The characters are unrealistic, lame and VERY stereotypical. “Cabin in the Woods” stereotypical. Cringe-worthy.

That being said, if you can get past that, read a little faster and just enjoy the ride…it’s fun! You know the animatronics in Disneyland will never truly attack you, so you pretend and scream for fun. Treat this book like that and you can enjoy it.

I did.… (meer)

Stories involving a child’s bond with an animal seem to almost always make for a heartwarming and tear inducing read for me and Of A Feather did not disappoint.

With some birds of prey in this one, there is a hunting aspect that may be too difficult for some readers, but it doesn’t get overly graphic where that is concerned.

Even though I don’t envision myself participating in falconry, I still found it an interesting topic to read about, the relationship formed between bird and human, the trust that develops and also the great work done in rehabilitating birds and getting them back out into the wild, all of that held my interest and then some.

I know there are readers who prefer human POV’s only, but Rufus’s thoughts added so much to this story emotionally as well as by conveying a sense of what life as an owl might be like beyond our somewhat dry textbook understanding of their existence. I also enjoyed his personality, he’s a bit on the haughty side yet also contends with self-esteem issues and you really see him evolve and experience a satisfying character arc.

I adored Reenie, too, with a mom in and out of mental health facilities, there’s such a sense of upheaval in Reenie’s life that trusting others, letting them in feels like a huge risk to her early on in the book and you will most definitely feel invested in this girl possibly reaching a place where she’ll feel secure and less alone in the world.

I loved this one, especially the gradual emotional connections between the characters, whether blood relations, animal and human, or friends Reenie and Rufus find in one another and others, there was something of a found family feel to the support system formed in this story that gave this a genuinely uplifting quality.… (meer)

[July 19, 2012] This novel is basically a variation on "isolate everyone under dire circumstances and watch society break down." I could comment on the implausibility of the story, or the lack of a satisfying resolution, but my main problem with this novel has to do with how the story is presented to its intended audience - teenagers.

Most stories of this type are very clear in what is acceptable and unacceptable behavior by the characters and what drives them to take matters in their own hands. The best stories of this type depict the regret and remorse of those whose actions don't truly reflect their true nature. In this novel, however, while the dire circumstances under which people find themselves is shown to influence their behavior, the inappropriate behavior by the adolescents in the story (for example, bullying, sexual innuendo, shoplifting, disrespect for authority) is glossed over as if "that's just the way kids are these days." While this may or may not reflect teenagers in real life, the lack of consequences for unacceptable behavior suggests that this behavior is "okay." Even aside from consequences, the very descriptions of these actions suggest no ethical standards.

The purpose of the novel may not be to moralize, but should we suggest, by not drawing a line between right and wrong, that "anything goes"? The bottom line is, I'm a pretty liberal-thinking adult, but I wouldn't want my teenage kids reading this. There are so many better YA novels for them to read, none of which is marred as I feel this novel is.… (meer)