Miranda Marie

I think the different aspects in this book didn't stand out to me as much since this was a reread, so this review might be less in-depth than it might otherwise be, but I'll preface by saying that this is an awesome book.

My absolute favorite thing about this book is the characters. (Do I ever not say that when I'm talking about a book I love?) More specifically, I love the dynamics between them. This is something I did remember from my prior reads of this book. I'm particularly partial to the relationship between Nathan and Jessica; they're so much fun to read. We don't get to see a whole lot of some of the characters in this book, since there are several of them and they can't all have the screen time they perhaps deserve (this is something I'm struggling with in the book I'm writing, as well), but since this is the first of a series I trust that we'll get to know them more and more as the series progresses (and I remember we do, with at least a few of them). All of the characters are really distinct, each one having one or two features or traits that particularly set them apart. Thatcher with his accent and blue eyes (unfortunately he kept ending up English in my head rather than Scottish because my brain has a harder time formulating a Scottish accent), Autumn with her red hair, Azalei with her almost-silent authority, etc. The characters in this book were just really well-done.

I did think that some of the flashbacks were a bit forced. Several of them seemed kind of tossed in there for the sake of plot convenience, to either give us a piece of backstory or tell us more about the plot or to tie the present to the past and I think they could have been executed a little better. I think I would have preferred the memories to be part of the characters' thoughts rather than their own flashback in most instances.

The world is really cool, because while this is a dystopian world and it's clearly a dystopian world, it's incredibly unique and it doesn't really seem all that awful. You know it is, under the surface, but on the surface you have highly advanced tech, people living above the ground so the ground can be lush and green again, vehicles built to look like dragons (how many of you would not love to have a car that looks like a dragon?), and ground-level streets that almost no one uses. (I don't know why, but for some reason that's really fascinating to me. It's super cool to imagine old abandoned roads with greenery growing through cracks in the asphalt and vines wrapping around old shells of cars...)

One thing to note: If you don't like a lot of points-of-view, this book isn't for you. The point-of-view breaks are clear and it's established very early in a scene whose head we're in, but there are a lot of points-of-view in this book. I can think of ten off the top of my head. In most cases it was helpful for giving a deeper sense of the characters and the plot, but in a couple of places it didn't seem incredibly beneficial. It still wasn't particularly off-putting for me, but if multiple points-of-view aren't your thing then this probably isn't the book for you.

Overall this is definitely a five-star book and I highly recommend it. :)… (altro)

This book is amazing. I’ll just start with that. This book is wonderful. The style, the characters, the plot… It’s just wonderful.

I had the privilege of reading excerpts of this book, since Miranda (Mandy) and I are in the same writing group (which in no way affects this review, because this book can more than stand on its own), and I immediately fell in love with the poetic writing style and intricate characters. Every excerpt just piqued my interest more, and by the time I was finally able to buy Echoes I was dying to read it. Unfortunately, I’d made it a reward for reaching my goal of 100k for NaNoWriMo (which I didn’t come close to), so I waited to read it until sometime in December (although I did cheat on a couple of chapters on days that I met my daily goal. Shhh).

Now I’ve finally been able to read the whole thing, and I love it even more. Fair warning, the style isn’t for everyone, and it crosses the lines in genre, but Mandy did an excellent job executing it. The writing style is poetic and unlike anything I’ve ever read, told from a limited third-person POV that allows the reader to see Emma’s fascinating, unique way of thinking and seeing things. Emma sees symbolism in anything and draws incredibly poetic parallels between things in her description. It’s gorgeous to read, and even though there’s very little dialogue, you never really get tired of reading the long descriptions because they’re so beautifully written.

The characters are incredibly well-developed, the two most prominent characters (Emma and Natan) being particularly distinct from any other characters I’ve seen. Emma is shy, and her quirks are well thought out and shown clearly and in a way that makes her particularly stand out as developed and unique. She doesn’t talk much, but that doesn’t detract from her character (or the story, for that matter) in the slightest.

The character relationships are another thing I really admire in this book. The contrast between Natan and Adrae (and their relationship in general), (**minor spoiler ahead**) the way that Natan protects Emma, etc. Mandy is excellent at skillfully writing the dynamics between characters so that they seem real. (And you ship couples way easier than in the majority of popular YA fiction. Or anything else for that matter.)

Overall, Echoes is definitely worthy of five stars, and I highly recommend it. :)… (altro)