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A review by treeandme
The Turnaway Girls by Hayley Chewins
2.0
Blog Post: https://museofnyxmares.wordpress.com/2018/10/06/review-the-turnaway-girls-by-hayley-chewins/
2.5/5 Stars
*I was provided with an ARC of this book through Netgalley, in exchange for my honest opinion.
Oh dear, I nearly didn’t finish this, but I really try not to do that, even with books I’ve brought myself. But I really just felt like I didn’t have it in me to finish this book, for the life of me, I just couldn’t get into it. The very first paragraph had me so excited as I could tell that the author was someone who searches for the most beautiful and interesting ways to phrase everything. There were so many stand out sentences that I marveled at, but unfortunately the text as a whole just didn’t work for me. I felt as if I was constantly lagging behind the story, like I was always having to play catch up and unfortunately I didn’t manage to in the end. I was just over the halfway mark when I almost made that difficult decision to stop. But I gave myself some time away from it and decided to continue on, not because I particularly wanted to see where the story would go, but because I hate not finishing books. Especially as some books manage to turn things around by the end. However, I think that it’s only fair for me to expect to have a grasp on the story and characters this far in, but honestly I had no idea what was going on, it’s the longest state of confusion that I’ve ever experienced. I didn’t understand the characters, their world, or where the story was going at all. I’m so very disappointed about this because I truly loved some of the writing, but sadly it just wasn’t for me.
I didn’t really care for any of the characters apart from Linna maybe, as she was just so bright and full of life, compared to everyone else. And I liked the odd little Bly and how everything that come out of his mouth was poetry quotes, it was quite charming. I couldn’t quite figure out the Childer-Queen or Mother Nine and it actually really bothered me, they both seemed like they could’ve been really interesting characters if developed more. The Custodian didn’t do much for me in terms of being a villain, he was quite a disappointing one if I’m honest. And with the main character Delphernia, I mostly felt sorry for her because of the way Mother Nine treated her, it was actually quite shocking to be honest. My feelings towards her didn’t stretch beyond this sympathy though, which already made me less interested in continuing on.
The idea of the Turnaway Girls intrigued me massively, but once I got the gist of it, I was still confused and it fell a bit flat for me. I can’t work out why, but I just expected it to be a bit more, to mean a bit more, but it all felt too metaphorical to me. When I thought that I’d understood something, I’d then learn something different, like I thought that only boys could be masters. And I thought that all men were masters, but some men can’t make music and so are treated as slaves. There just seemed to be a load of random facts that we were given that weren’t fully explored or simply didn’t make sense, like I didn’t understand Mother Nine’s conflicting actions or her connection to the Sea-Singer. I also didn’t get who the Mothers were and how and why they were chosen, as there had been nine of them all together.
I previously stated that I enjoyed some of the writing a lot and I still standby that, but the plot just wasn’t good. I felt so lost the whole way through, without a steady and strong plot to follow, another reviewer mentioned feeling liked they’d missed bits of the story and I can’t think of a better way to describe what I experienced. I keep saying confusing, but it was exactly that. The world building was patchy and the setting was non existent for me, because I just couldn’t conjure any of it in my head, it was trying to say the least. Someone else mentioned that they think that this would have worked better as a YA instead of a Middle Grade, and I have to wholeheartedly agree. There was potential here for a great book, but it lacked a certain depth and clarity, that felt masked by the beautiful writing. I don’t think I could personally recommend it, as I just didn’t really enjoy it, but most of its reviews have been four or five star ratings, so it may just be one of those subjective books that everyone responds wildly differently to.
2.5/5 Stars
*I was provided with an ARC of this book through Netgalley, in exchange for my honest opinion.
Oh dear, I nearly didn’t finish this, but I really try not to do that, even with books I’ve brought myself. But I really just felt like I didn’t have it in me to finish this book, for the life of me, I just couldn’t get into it. The very first paragraph had me so excited as I could tell that the author was someone who searches for the most beautiful and interesting ways to phrase everything. There were so many stand out sentences that I marveled at, but unfortunately the text as a whole just didn’t work for me. I felt as if I was constantly lagging behind the story, like I was always having to play catch up and unfortunately I didn’t manage to in the end. I was just over the halfway mark when I almost made that difficult decision to stop. But I gave myself some time away from it and decided to continue on, not because I particularly wanted to see where the story would go, but because I hate not finishing books. Especially as some books manage to turn things around by the end. However, I think that it’s only fair for me to expect to have a grasp on the story and characters this far in, but honestly I had no idea what was going on, it’s the longest state of confusion that I’ve ever experienced. I didn’t understand the characters, their world, or where the story was going at all. I’m so very disappointed about this because I truly loved some of the writing, but sadly it just wasn’t for me.
I didn’t really care for any of the characters apart from Linna maybe, as she was just so bright and full of life, compared to everyone else. And I liked the odd little Bly and how everything that come out of his mouth was poetry quotes, it was quite charming. I couldn’t quite figure out the Childer-Queen or Mother Nine and it actually really bothered me, they both seemed like they could’ve been really interesting characters if developed more. The Custodian didn’t do much for me in terms of being a villain, he was quite a disappointing one if I’m honest. And with the main character Delphernia, I mostly felt sorry for her because of the way Mother Nine treated her, it was actually quite shocking to be honest. My feelings towards her didn’t stretch beyond this sympathy though, which already made me less interested in continuing on.
The idea of the Turnaway Girls intrigued me massively, but once I got the gist of it, I was still confused and it fell a bit flat for me. I can’t work out why, but I just expected it to be a bit more, to mean a bit more, but it all felt too metaphorical to me. When I thought that I’d understood something, I’d then learn something different, like I thought that only boys could be masters. And I thought that all men were masters, but some men can’t make music and so are treated as slaves. There just seemed to be a load of random facts that we were given that weren’t fully explored or simply didn’t make sense, like I didn’t understand Mother Nine’s conflicting actions or her connection to the Sea-Singer. I also didn’t get who the Mothers were and how and why they were chosen, as there had been nine of them all together.
I previously stated that I enjoyed some of the writing a lot and I still standby that, but the plot just wasn’t good. I felt so lost the whole way through, without a steady and strong plot to follow, another reviewer mentioned feeling liked they’d missed bits of the story and I can’t think of a better way to describe what I experienced. I keep saying confusing, but it was exactly that. The world building was patchy and the setting was non existent for me, because I just couldn’t conjure any of it in my head, it was trying to say the least. Someone else mentioned that they think that this would have worked better as a YA instead of a Middle Grade, and I have to wholeheartedly agree. There was potential here for a great book, but it lacked a certain depth and clarity, that felt masked by the beautiful writing. I don’t think I could personally recommend it, as I just didn’t really enjoy it, but most of its reviews have been four or five star ratings, so it may just be one of those subjective books that everyone responds wildly differently to.