I was originally looking for some picture books in my college library when I picked up The Runaway Princess and The Aviary. I have since finished both books but as I read The Runaway Princess first I'll start there.
If you're looking for a fun, silly book with loads of characters, most all lovable, moderately witty dialogue, and a heaping ton of potential this may be the book for you. Princess Meg is not your ordinary princess content to sit in a tower and swoon while princes dash off in search of adventure, victory, treasure, and her hand in marriage as a reward for winning the contest her father has set up. Meg makes her way out of her tower prison with the help of some friends and sets off to win the contest herself! I'm terrible at giving book summaries without ruining the plot so if you're curious about this story of a princess who decides to take her fate into her own hands, go ahead and check out the amazon link :P
*Disclaimer: The Runaway Princess is billed as a middle grade book. The critique that follows hereafter probably leans a little heavy for such a young age bracket but there are some things I am not willing to sacrifice simply due to age range and in this case, either you can keep the plot as is and cut characters or you can fully develop your characters for a book that kicks more butt. I am in favor of the latter.
Now, I did honestly enjoy reading this. While a portion of that comes from the fact that I probably would have enjoyed anything if it was the first book I'd read after almost three months without a novel, the book isn't a bad one. I was duly refreshed by Coombs' take on the damsel not-so-much in distress and Meg's character isn't hard to like but I feel like Coombs fell prey to a problem that many authors fall into [including myself]: she tried to do too much too fast. Sometimes, when writers are early in their career [I could be mistaken but I think this was her first novel], there is this curious pressure at the back of the mind telling you to get the story down on paper as fast fast fast as you can, get everything out before the reader loses interest! It is easy to feel like any time spent describing anything at all takes too much time and that if you don't move from action to action to climax like lightning, your audience will get bored. I've seen this with my own and others' writing rather often in classes I've taken and the conversations usually go the same way:
Reader: I get the idea of what's going on here but I have no idea why your character is doing this, why they said that, what this has to do with the bigger picture. The whole thing is a bit confusing to me and I feel like you rush through it.
Author: Well, he/she did/said that because of [something the author knows contextually and historically about the character but has never been said in the text] and they're doing that because [something the author knows contextually and historically about the character/plot but has never been said in the text].
Reader: Okay...that makes more sense now but you never said that and this scene doesn't tell me any of that. How am I supposed to know?
As writers, we get to know our characters very well and there is always going to be a certain amount of information you retain in your mind but never share with the reader in the text [have you seen any of those interviews with J.K.Rowling?] but there are many things the reader has to know. It can be so easy to fill in the blanks in your mind, to rush through and throw down just the bare bones of a story because your mind holds it all in its completeness but the reader's doesn't. And when you fail to give enough background, enough depth to characters, enough development to make your characters concrete, your reader has to start employing a lot of suspension of belief, let me tell you.
Coombs has amazing characters and a lot of fun wit to share but in rushing through the story she never really developed any of them, hardly pausing to even introduce a handful that then, confusingly, continue on with the rest throughout the book. When I finished I really wanted to know more about the independent princess, her gardener friend, the precocious little wizard, the twin princes, and the bandits. The first thought in my head was that this book would be an amazing starting point for someone to build on. Not, I think, exactly what an author would want their readers to be thinking when they finished their novel.
If you want a fun, silly read that has some really original twists and fantastic lines like: "there is always time for hot cocoa," I do recommend this book. Enjoy the characters and humor and maybe even take away some budding inspiration for your own fairy-tale adventure :)
On to The Aviary. This is a book I want for Christmas.
I'm not typically your supernatural kind of girl. I don't read a lot of ghost stories, though I am a fan of a good mystery which is probably why I picked this book up. Clara is the daughter of the Glendoveer's housekeeper. She's lived a secluded life in the old mansion that once housed a world-famous musician and his family. Now all that's left is the magician's widow and an aviary of assorted birds that frighten Clara with their unusual racket every time she comes near. Clara avoids the birds whenever she can but when, one day, one of the birds calls out "Elliot!" Clara is drawn into a decades-old mystery full of secrets, tragedy, intrigue, and ambitious plots to discover the truth. O'Dell's book is not your typical ghost story, or your typical mystery though it does combine these with a fantastical touch of magic. It takes place in a historical setting where the language and times are more formal. It is intriguing, then that in this dated setting we find a compelling coming of age story centered on a young girl who has known only women her entire memorable life. Clara has been kept indoors as long as she can remember, forbidden by her mother to exert herself, let alone do normal childhood things like attend school. When she is drawn into the mystery of the Glendoveer's kidnapped and drowned children she has to find the strength within herself and develop ties of trust in a new friendship in order to win the day.
Let's be honest, I couldn't put the book down. O'Dell's approach to the fancifulness and mystic is smooth enough that whether you believe in ghosts or not, you can imagine and step into Clara's world entirely. Clara's world, existing almost solely within the old house, is nonetheless rich with detail and its own mysteries. It is inspiring to think of the things and memories that exist in your own home that you may never have noticed. I particularly enjoyed the way O'Dell constructed the mystery in the plot. The reader learns things all along the way with Clara, it's not one of those constant suspense books in the sense that little answers are given and discovered throughout the book so that by the end you have almost a complete picture of what happened to the Glendoveer's children. There are no cliche'd M. Night Shyamalan twists here. What you do find is wonderful character development, convincing and, at times, gripping descriptions of the anxiety, fear, and sorrow that thread through the book. I stand with Daphne in her conclusion that Clara's life may well be more exciting than any I've yet lived. Perhaps I should shut myself up in an old mansion?
The dialogue in Aviary is wonderful, each character's voice delightfully distinct and consistent. While the pacing is quick, it fits better for this story than it did for Runaway Princess, I think because Aviary is a mystery/suspense story where timing and the feeling of time slipping through ones fingers in paramount. For my taste, there is also just the right balance between fancy and all-get-out creepy as Clara discovers dusty clues to lead her down the proverbial rabbit hole.
Overall, I enjoyed seeing Clara grow from a timid, unhappy girl with little in the way of confidence to a courageous, strong young woman who finds justice for those long since able to seek it themselves. Goodness that sounds dramatic, but I suppose it is, in a good way. So if you're looking for a historical mystery with a touch of the supernatural and a healthy dose of strong female protagonist, I definitely recommend the Aviary as a future read.
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