Stray (Touchstone, #1)

by Andrea K Hoest

[clementine]

I see a lot of promise in this series, although the first book did fall a bit short for me.

I have a hard time with diary-style narration. I understand its use a narrative mechanism, but I often find it gimmicky and a bit limiting. The tone of a diary is generally very casual - and while I don't want to read a YA sci-fi novel full of formal language, often the casual nature of a diary creates a feeling of being talked down to rather than of immediacy. I know first-person, present-tense isn't everyone's cup of tea, but I find it much more effective at achieving the same results, without having to sacrifice narrative style or build in awkward explanations of how the character happened to have a blank book with them in the first place.

Now that that's out of the way, I will say that I thought Cass was a refreshing narrator. She is very much her own person, and isn't plagued by the male dependency and irrationality that so many female YA protagonists suffer from. And although there are hints of her attractions, there was no romance and no contrived, overwrought love triangle. This is always a huge bonus to me - while some romance can provide realism and depth, too much of it takes away from the main plot and is usually wholly unnecessary. If I wanted a romance novel I'd buy a damn romance novel! (And if I wanted a story where the heroine is stripped of all autonomy, intelligence, and personality as soon as she falls in love, I'd read the vast majority of YA dystopian. Oh, wait...)

It's obvious that Höst planned this series out meticulously: the language, the history, the technology, the conventions. This is impressive, and her worldbuilding is interesting and adds a lot of depth to the story. I felt like she tried to cram too much in, and ultimately felt like the book was a very long - but necessary - intro to the rest of the series.

Most unfortunate for me was a lack of emotional depth. While I did enjoy the fact that Cass really has her head screwed on right, it just didn't make sense to me that she was so, well, cool in her private diary - the one place she can truly be honest - in the face of everything she's experienced. I'm definitely not a sci-fi girl at all, and for me what would make a novel in this genre compelling and unforgettable is not amazing technology or nonstop action, but relatable emotion that universalizes the human experience and provides insight and depth.

I think that the rest of this series will probably be a lot better. This book definitely did seem to be more of an intro. It showed a great amount of potential, although I had significant issues with it.