- JR Molt
- Oct 18, 2020
Before I begin, let me preface this post really quick. The extent of my scientific knowledge strictly comes from episodes of The Big Bang Theory aka zip, zero, zilch. So straight off, author to author, kudos to Danielle Stinson for her level of scientific knowledge that was needed to write this book.
With that being said, this book very nearly was a DNF (did not finish) for me. I struggled each time I went to pick it back up. In my opinion, the book was all over the place. At first, I was extremely confused because the main character, Rose, kept referring to things like we should know them. Also, there was some weird relationship language.. or feelings...? I don’t even know how to describe it. Right from the beginning I got the impression that she was head of the household and no parents were still in the picture which was why she was the authoritative figure. But then suddenly from time to time, she would reference her mom, again as if we know a lot about her; when in fact you knew nothing. Rose also has a.... different relationship with her brother, Charlie. Honestly, if she had not already called him her brother I, dead serious, thought it was a lover or boyfriend she was talking about. #houselannistervibes.
All of that aside, if you are someone who appreciates any closure or any explanations at all before the last page, then this book will just tick you off. Like it did me. I am all for mystery and anticipation and the excitement of at last getting answers, but none of that even happens. You get no real explanation why these select few kids were “lucky” enough to tend up in the elusive Fold, and even at the end (****Spoiler Alert*****) They just pop back out into reality and that is it. Book done. Oh, did you want answers? Well, that sucks for you!
So basically you get thrown into this world with zero back story and zero idea of what is happening. And not in a fun, mysterious, ooooh what is happening kind of way. All you know is people are killing themselves and others, a girl and her brother (and maybe their mom..?) decide to move to this town because her brother heard music coming from here...? Creepy! Then all at once, BAM, you are flooded with backstories galor, yet with no timeline established and only a very vague mention of a “monster”. What. The. Heck.
About halfway in, queue the classic yet helpful nerd who appears in the nick of time to explain what the hell is happening. Kind of. I feel like I needed a physics degree just to understand what the kid was even talking about, and like I said at the beginning, most of my knowledge close to the subject comes from Sheldon Cooper, so I was pretty lost.
There a few chapters where you get jumped to the brother, Charlie’s, point of view, which only was weirder. I understand what the author was trying to do, but it seemed like a waste of pages, and honesty toward the end I mostly skipped over them.
Here is an excerpt:
Her hands next to mine. Fingers touching. Chapped lips and dirty knees. A single shell. Buried treasure. I give it to her. Round and white. Perfect snowflake in her hand. The way she smiles. Sand dollar, she tells me. It is special. Like you, she says. Like you. Like you. Like you.
Now I have never been good at getting much out of poetry, so it is completely possible that is my issue with these sections.
Again I was totally confused at the end. I am a big sister, and I would do anything I possibly could to protect my siblings. And like I mentioned earlier, Rose and Charlie seem extremely close, romantic vibes or not. (****Spoiler Alert*****) The whole book, she makes it clear time and time again that she would do anything to protect Charlie. Including entering a rapidly collapsing wormhole without looking back. She straight-up lies to a guy that she suddenly seems to love, (...don’t even get me started on that whole chunk of weirdness) she abandons her friends multiple times and puts herself in extreme danger over and over to get to Charlie and save him. It was these facts echoing in my head when I read the last pages of the book.
A big sister who went through all of this, up and leaves the kid alone in the wormhole with a “dark presence” (An alien? A ghost? A demon? Never clarified) for eternity so he can close the door behind her. With barely even a discussion! Hell. No. Excuse my language, but I call BULLSHIT! Guess what? There is always another way idiot. Science literally opened the door, you bet your ass they can figure out a way to close it. Then boom, that is the end. Seriously.
My frustration at the non-existent answer for the book is beyond reasonable and I will be definitely fuming about it tonight when I should be sleeping instead. That is it. There is nothing else I can say on this book. If I ever do pick it back up to reread, it will only be to relive the emotion of again that I felt build with each turn of the page. Until then, this will be going somewhere out of my view until I can look at the cover without feeling like I need to punch something.
Top Quotes
The wind howls. The maple tree about us releases a handful of autumn confetti.
The morning is chilly and overcast. Mist drapes the forest and blankets the ground in thick white clouds that smell like earth and growing things.
“Your uncle sounds like a crackpot.”
“Funny,” Blaine says, displaying a glimmer of nerve. “People said the same thing about Aristotle. Copernicus. Einstein. Perhaps you’ve heard of them.”
Sometimes there are no good choices. You made the only choice you could live with.
Stay awesome and spread the light!
JR Molt
