 |
| Little Brown Books for Young Readers |
By Laini Taylor
5 Scribbles
No one builds worlds as well as Laini Taylor—well not since
Tolkien anyway. And now that Karou knows who she truly is, she is plunged
headfirst into the broken world of her people, the chimaera. Filled with
vengeance and righteous anger, Karou chooses to join her people in the fight
against the angels—and against Akiva—in a crucial role. But is her choice to turn her back on love
worth it?
The characters in this novel are even more lifelike and vivid
than in the first. It is easy to become immersed in the world of Elsewhere while
reading about wolves, Naja, Kirin and winged creatures designed by Karou’s artistic
hand. From Thiago’s glossy white fur and menacing eyes, to Ziri’s lithe,
antelope-human body, to Akiva’s special beauty and glowing red wings, the
reader is treated to a kaleidoscope of images that become virtual candy for the
imagination. And if the descriptions of
the creatures and the world of Elsewhere don’t captivate the reader, then the
bloody conflict certainly will. Karou and Akiva, soul mates and lovers in book
one, find themselves as sworn enemies in this second installment. For Karou,
this means filling Brimstone’s shoes as the new Resurrectionist and trusting
Thiago, the wolf she still hates with all her being, but must follow to avenge
the deaths of her people. It is a strange situation that places Karou as a sort
of voluntary prisoner and amplifies the fact that the need for vengeance now
controls her. Akiva, on the other hand, is ready to make amends to Karou, and
to cease his killing ways, because “a drop of mercy dilutes a lake of hate.” And
while there is truth in this, Karou has not had the benefit of years to heal
that brought Akiva to this conclusion—thus, she has sworn to hate him. How much will Karou be willing to endure, and
how many angels will she have to kill in order to find any semblance of peace? And
if both sides can come to some peace, will the physical marks of Hamas and
tattoo marks of the slain on the angels’ hands, be too much of a reminder of
atrocities past for the opposing sides to accept one another?
While the conflicts are heavy, bloody, and battles constant,
some comic relief is thankfully present via Karou’s BFF Zuzana, now hooked up
with Mic from book one. The two provide welcome foils to the newly-sworn-enemies-once-lovers
Akiva and Karou. Zuzana and Mic also show an ironic tolerance for the strange creatures
and help illustrate the power of music and kindness on the human (and not so
human) soul. Perhaps most importantly, these two characters keep the story
grounded, and add a human element to the second book which hints at the idea that
humans may play a critical role in book three which I am anxiously awaiting…
No comments:
Post a Comment