ekaterinaromanova

After the Breadwinner trilogy, I wasn't really sure what to expect from Deborah Ellis. I love her writing and Parvana was one of my favorite YA characters but I think it'll be hard for her to match or duplicate a Breadwinner-caliber novel again. Looking for X can stand on its own as a decent YA novel (about a girl with two autistic brothers) but I didn't think it was as well developed as it could have been. The writing struck me as pretty surface level and I had a hard time buying Khyber as an 11-year-old. Most 11-year-old kids with autistic siblings are frustrated and annoyed so I had a tough time believing she would be so accepting of her two brothers. I thought the friendship with X was very unusual (I suppose that was the point?) and some parts of the novel -- like the scene in the park with the Skinheads -- seemed a bit over-the-top and random at the same time. Maybe I was expecting too much but I felt like she didn't delve deep enough into the plot and then the ending seemed very rushed and too good to be true.

2022-08-30 21:41