The Almost Girl (Riven Chronicles, #1)

by Amalie Howard

[jnikkir]

This review can also be found at my blog, There were books involved...

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The Almost Girl is quite the conundrum, for me. Overall, it was the kind of book that is jam-packed with action and intensity, which was great! But some of the plot development and characterization fell a little flat.

The overall premise is fantastic. Riven is a young woman from a war-torn world in a parallel universe to ours. She's high-ranking general in Prince Cale's army, and a friend of the prince himself. But the Prince is sick, and he sends Riven to our universe to find his brother, Caden. Riven, being from such a different world than ours, has to cope with not only the shock of a very different world, but she has to do so while searching for Caden and trying to outrun others who are also on his trail.

Does that not sound super exciting? It is. The action and fast pacing in this book kept me totally glued to the pages. The Almost Girl is packed with so much stuff happening, that it's mind-boggling how it could all fit... Unfortunately, I think one reason why it did all fit, is that all the action and incredibly fast pacing got in the way of a few important things.

With all the different Things Happening at every turn of the page, the plot was a little difficult to follow. Even 50% through the book, I was still unsure exactly why Riven needed to bring Caden back to her world, other than "Cale told her to". There were mentions of Cale being sick - was Caden needed in order to succeed him, if Cale died? Did Cale just want to find him because they were brothers? Was it something more sinister? It was also very unclear how similar the two looked - this is a plot point, but one that I don't think was dealt with very well.

All of these plot-related issues were cleared up in the end, but it was handled in such a way that I wasn't sure whether I was missing pertinent information. It led to me feeling baffled most of the time, and these gaps in my knowledge didn't seem like mysteries, so much as unnecessary confusion.

After Riven finds Caden, and throughout their journey to get back to Cale, Riven slowly comes to have a thing for Caden. The pacing here is slow, which is nice, but I never really understood her attraction to him. It was frequently mentioned that Caden looks very much like Cale, and at first I thought she must have been in love with Cale back in her world, and that the similarities between the two are what drew her to Caden. However, later we're told that Riven sees Cale more like the brother she never had, so that doesn't really make sense. But she's adamant on keeping Caden at arm's length, referring to him as "the target", and trying not to get close to him, for reasons unknown (until near the end of the book).

I feel like the action also cut into the characterization of secondary characters. The book is told from Riven's perspective, so she's given pretty good characterization, other than the questions I had about her feelings for Cale/Caden that were plot-related. But Caden was also given some unclear characterization, as well.

At first Caden appears to be a meek, good-boy type who needs protecting. He has no problem being defended by two kick-ass ladies, which I very much appreciated. But eventually he sort of starts giving off a more tough, bad-boy vibe, which conflicted with my original impression a lot. There's one scene where he pretty much forces Riven into a corner and kisses her, which I was really uncomfortable with. It didn't seem like something he'd do; and it also didn't seem like something Riven would have let happen. Not only is she capable of kicking his ass, I don't think she'd want him to even think he could get away with forcing her to kiss him, even if she did want to kiss him back.

Additionally, there are quite a few character whom we meet later on in the book (I can't say who, because spoilers), and these characters all felt one-dimensional and just... lacking. I think if less time had been spent on action scenes, and more time was devoted to quieter moments getting to know people, this could have been fixed.

Also, on an unrelated note - the title and cover of this book give away a major plot point that is treated as this Huge Deal at the end, which left me feeling a bit empty after the "big reveal". This point seems obvious right from the moment you look at the cover, and then remains so throughout the book, so when the moment finally comes to reveal it, it was just... lacking, unfortunately.

 

In conclusion...

What strange feelings I'm left with... The Almost Girl is an incredibly fast-paced, action-packed book with more awesome fight scenes and excitement than I can shake a stick at. So if you're looking for a quick, exciting read, you definitely might want to check this out. Unfortunately, it fell a little flat in the characterization department. And the revelations of important plot details were timed in a way that I didn't really find satisfying; they either caused confusion, or weren't impactful in any way. However, overall I did enjoy The Almost Girl, despite these things.

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There were books involved...