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Some books make me feel uncomfortable, and usually I can't put my finger on exactly why, but the feeling is a strong NO THANK YOU. Nameless falls into that category, and without a solid main character to help me through, I DNF-ed.
The world is intriguing with its mobster-like vampire families and unique take on paranormal beings. This is probably why I read as far as I did and I was tempted to read more just so I could figure out exactly what was up with this world.
Because, yeah, it's unique, but it's also seriously vague. Like, dreamworld vague where some pieces are super clear and others are foggy and when you put them together you have something that kinda makes sense but also totally doesn't.
And then there's the characters, which is where that icky vibe comes in for me. Main character Cami is supposed to be a teenager but she reads more like a shy, traumatized little kid. Fine, if not exactly sleepover party material, but that also makes for some weird dynamics with her family and friends.
Her somewhat incestuous relationship with her adoptive brother also skirts my comfort line. Combine the childish mentality, trauma, and clingy relationship she has with her adoptive brother with her lusty incestuous feelings and that starts to enter a realm of which I'm not sure what to make.
By the time I DNF-ed at about the halfway mark the plot had only very, very slowly started to form around Cami as The Chosen One and her brother as the chosen consort and I just could not get on board with Cami—broken five year old minded Cami—as someone capable of ordering a pizza without having an internal meltdown let alone taking on the mantle of some great and powerful leader.
To be fair, I probably would have stuck with this one to the end if I had liked Cami. The world has potential and even though the romance had a degree of eyebrow raising, Lili St. Crow still managed to get some swoon in there. Alas, Cami and I just weren't meshing and by the time I decided to DNF I realized I was hoping some villain would knock her off.
This is book one in a series, and while I'm guessing there's an overarching plot, each book follows a different main character and probably wraps up her individual story by the end of each book. Cami's friends definitely seemed like better characters, so the sequels might be worth checking out. But, of course, I DNF-ed this one, so fair warning I'm just guessing on how it wraps up.
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Ohhhh this one sounds weird... especially the relationship with her adoptive brother.
ReplyDeleteAlso, this sentence: "Like, dreamworld vague where some pieces are super clear and others are foggy and when you put them together you have something that kinda makes sense but also totally doesn't." describes really well how I feel about some of Diana Wynne Jones's books. I mean, I love Howl's Moving Castle, but it was pretty clear-cut and straightforward. Some of the other books I've read by her, like Hexwood, are kind of muddling, and one minute you're one place and the next minute you're somewhere else going, 'wait, what just happened?' and feeling as though maybe you missed a page, but you didn't. I think some readers are okay with that, but I tend to get frustrated if I don't know exactly what's happening all the time, lol.
oh that does not sound like something I'd like. I wish editors would fix that sort of thing.
DeleteI actually really liked this book, though I have to agree with you that the world-building is confusingly hand-wavy and Cami is an odd character. USPS lost my copy of the book, which I'm pretty mad about.
ReplyDeleteI've read the second one, and the characters are better, and I just got the third one for Christmas!
Oh no USPS! That is very disappointing. At least you got the third for Christmas! I can see the characters being better in the other books.
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