Monday 7 November 2016

Book Review: Kindred Spirits; Rainbow Rowell.

This is going to be a very short review, as this was not only a very short story, but a deviation from my TBR that I only posted seven days ago! I really wanted a small sample of Rowell's work before getting into her larger book, 'Fangirl' that my lovely sister has lent me. Here are my thoughts!

SOURCE: Freebie at YALC
TYPE: Paperback

TITLE: Kindred Spirits
AUTHOR: Rainbow Rowell

SERIES: --
PUBLISHER: Macmillan Kids UK

PAGES: 96
GENRE: Young Adult, Contemporary, Short Story

RATING: 3.5/5 Stars


Blurb:
'Everybody likes everything these days. The whole world is a nerd.'

'Are you mad because other people like Star Wars? Are you mad because people like me like Star Wars?'

'Maybe.' 

If you broke Elena's heart, Star Wars would spill out. So when she decides to queue outside her local cinema to see the new movie, she's expecting a celebration with crowds of people who love Han, Luke and Leia just as much as she does. What she's not expecting is to be last in a line of only three people; to have to pee into a collectable Star Wars soda cup behind a dumpster or to meet that unlikely someone who just might truly understand the way she feels.

What I Liked:
  • Rowell's writing is just these few short pages has really won me over. She seems to 'get' teen voices in a way that other Authors find hard, and makes it look so easy! I loved the characterisation too, something else that she explored in a lot of depth considering the page count. I think that Authors who manage to go deep so effortlessly for a short story deserve to be commended and I easily see now why Rainbow Rowell is such an acclaimed author!
What I Disliked:
  • Aside from the obvious 'I WANT MORE THIS BOOK WAS SO SHORT WAAH' I did cringe a little at the end. It just felt ever so slightly too corny, though still adorable in a lot of ways. It was anti-climactic too, though provided a good lead up for a potential expansion to the story.
Overall Conclusion:
Adorkable is the word I would use to provide this reading experience. There's a lot of fluff and Rowell does a wonderful job of making a story out of a very short few days in someone's life. I loved the ease of it all: characters, diversity, dialogue, writing. It felt natural and free-flowing and even as if it didn't have any kind of editing (though I'm sure it did). Just like a #NoFilters selfie! Also, Rowell didn't forget about social media which SO MANY authors do, so I really commend her for that.

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