Dragonfly Song
Wendy Orr
A little girl is left under a bush with no voice after raiders take her adoptive family. She is the only one to survive – and so she is relegated to the bottom of society and bullied mercilessly. Her one chance at escape is to take part in the Bull Dancing – but it is a perilous task that no one seems to know how to prepare for.
Nooo! Past me, why did you not write notes on what you enjoyed about this novel? I could have sworn I had some notes sitting in my draft folder. Ah well. I can tell you that this was an excellent example of teenage fiction, and I really enjoyed it.
I snatched this novel from the top of a new pile of bookies that came in, and devoured it. I wanted something light and easy to read and this fit the bill. I curled up on a warm couch and read it in one breathless sitting. I didn’t know what would happen next, and what horrific things would be justified in speaking to a ‘cursed one’.
Something I didn’t enjoy about this novel were the poetry sections. I’m never a fan of poetry anyway, and here, the poetry tried to be good (in fact, it might have been good poetry, I’m not a connoisseur) but for me it distracted from the otherwise beautiful prose of the story.
I’ll be keeping this novel for future generations. I felt that it had real potential as both a teaching tool (bullying is bad), but also a great storyline that didn’t turn out how I expected it to. I’ll be giving this 4 stars, not 5, only because I probably won’t reread it.
Allen & Unwin | 22nd June 2016 | AU$16.99 | Paperback
This is action driven. Alfonso hardly seems to get a rest between being attacked by plants and swords. Hehe, while I’m talking about it, every time I write Alfonso, I find it pretty funny. It reminds me of Houdini perhaps? Anyway, there’s no chances to get bored, and the storyline trots along – right until you get tipped on your head!
I put off reading this novel because the cover didn’t fill me with confidence (I have included the updated image here). Lo and behold, setting off into it I remained nervous. By about half-way through, I was already committed, even if I didn’t feel particularly pushed to finish it.
I’m not sure what I was expecting from this novel. I wanted something fantasy because I was sick of teenage drama. No fear here – a scrap of ‘isn’t she pretty’, but otherwise fantasy running wild. Very satisfying and light to read.
Whiplash! The ending took me completely by surprise. Phew! My head may have literally flipped backwards. I couldn’t believe it. I just had to keep reading, but in fact, it was in a course of a couple of pages that the whole thing ended up on its head.
Em had to kill to get her new position in the court. I wonder whether some people are looking down on her as having ‘cheated’, and in fact, some of the dialogue is about revenge and trying to hold down sensible ideas after killing people. It’s something I’ve been contemplating lately, with all the fiction I have been reading. It does sound like sometimes the easiest solution is to kill the figurehead!
I couldn’t put this novel down. I think I start almost every Brandon Sanderson novel in that way. I didn’t realise it was out until an ill-timed comment from my partner just as I was going to sleep. I then had trouble sleeping because I wanted it right then and there. I begged to have it the next day, but I ended up getting it the day after and polishing it off in a single sitting.
From the very beginning you already know there is something wrong about the way the twins have been treated. The more you read, the more you work out what is going on – even if it is exactly what the burb described and you aren’t ever really confused.
There’s not much I can really say here, it is such a tiny little volume. I snaffled it up in around a half-hour. The action is fast-moving, and tries to keep your attention that way. I did drift off at points, but I think that’s just me.
There’s little bit of swapping between perspectives when they are all fighting in the Dream, which is not highlighted by different chapter breaks. This still works though because it feels like you distinctly stepped between each character in different places.