Rook

by Sharon Cameron

[Angie]

I can't comment on how well Rook works as a retelling, since I'm not at all familiar with the story it's based on. But I can say that I was completely bored by it. The world is absolutely fantastic and fascinating, but it's wasted on characters with no personality and a plot that just drags on and on. It took me about 150 pages to even get settled into the story, since nothing was happening, and even then it didn't hold my interest. I only perked up when there was more world-building!

Rook did not engage me at all. Most of what I was reading simply didn't stick, and I found myself rereading many pages because I didn't know what had just happened. I also just thought the plot was dull. Sophia is the Red Rook; she frees prisoners from the cells beneath Paris. I don't have a clue why there are so many people who need to be freed though. Was it explained? I honestly don't know. Maybe it was just corrupt government, or convenience. Anyway. Her brother is arrested for being the Red Rook and she obviously now has to save him before he's executed. I didn't care about her brother at all. I was never given a reason to. This made it hard to care about the plot at all.

As for the world of Rook, it is amazing! It totally reads like a Historical, but it's actually futuristic. It doesn't say exactly how far into the future, but it's after an event known as the Great Death. Basically, there was a polar shift, solar storms killed a bunch of people, then technology failed, and more people died because of their dependence on technology. Now, machines are outlawed and humans live a simpler life. I loved when things from today were mentioned and the characters had no clue about it, or they've heard stories from grandparents and think they're ridiculous. Like CDs containing thousands of pictures and words! Impossible! It was so great!

I really, really loved the world of Rook and really, really wished some other story had taken place in it. I just did not care about any of these people! I didn't understand why they were doing what they did! Everyone is lying to everyone, or thinking everyone is lying to them. And it was just not interesting. There was also a problem with repetition, mainly with conversations between Sophia and her fiance. Their first languages are not the same and he was constantly saying the typical "How you say..." before saying anything. It got old fast, especially since she never did that when they spoke his language instead.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.