Worlds Unseen (Seventh World Trilogy, #1)

by Rachel Starr Thomson

[ladygrey]

This is a difficult book to review because on the surface everything is good. The plot is filled with events that link together well and are interesting enough. The characters are good. Technically, it's a fine book.

But there's nothing underneath that technical sufficiency so I never sank down into the story and really connected to it.

There is no narrative tension in the plot to draw me through the story and make me want to keep reading. And I'm totally a hypocrite for critiquing that because I love when a story gives me all the answers quick and easy. But just because its what I want doesn't mean that makes it a good story.

The other part is that the story is told very matter-of-factly. It's descriptive enough but not emotional at all so I never really engaged with the characters. Which is why it's the worst instance of insta-love I've ever seen. Normally insta-love doesn't bother me because there's enough of a base of infatuation that the story is still fun. But an emotionless story where the girl knows she loved him after knowing him for one day where they share two short conversations without even a hint of "he's so hot I can't think straight" was just so out of blue and unfounded that it felt ridiculous.

And I don't want to be mean because, again, if you just examine all the pieces from a narrative standpoint it almost all works. But all the right technical pieces weren't enough to engage with the story and care about the characters and, for me, that's what matters most.