The Eslites

by CM Doporto

[violetpeanut]

I always find it more difficult to rate and review short stories. The very nature of a short story usually means less character development and more action. I miss the character development.

The main character, Miranda, describes herself in the story as a rebel but there's not much rebelling going on here, except in the way she speaks to the person in charge. There's no kind of action to back up her words.

Dimas, the man in charge and villain in the story, is authoritative and threatening in one breath, but then stands "there with a disbelieving gape on his face." That description just didn't mesh well with the rest of the descriptions about and actions of this character.

The general storyline hooked me right away. Girls are taken to be tested. If they pass, they must become egg donors for the Eslites, an alien race with no females. I think there's a lot of potential here. The idea is one I haven't really seen before in YA lit. However, the author lost me when she revealed that the Eslites are really Satan worshippers. I don't know... something about that just doesn't work for me. I think the story would have been better left as just being about aliens without the religious connotations.

Overall, this one was just "meh" for me. While I liked the general story, there were things that didn't sit well with me. If this were expanded into a full book I would probably pick it up to see how things developed.