by Shobhan Bantwal
Kensington Books, 2011
Source: public library
When I spotted The Full Moon Bride on my library’s new books shelves a while ago I remembered that S. Krishna had given it a positive review. I impulsively checked it out, stayed up way too late reading the first half of the book, and then, over the course of the next week . . . skimmed the rest. This may sound strange, but I’m actually proud of myself for skimming the second half of the book. As I mentioned once before, I am bizarrely obedient when it comes to finishing books. I don’t like to put down a book half-finished, even when it’s just not working for me. Hence my delight my skimming the rest of The Full Moon Bride. It’s a baby step in the right direction.
Even though I had a tough time finishing it, I’m not going to rip on The Full Moon Bride. It’s a fairly decent book, and one I might have enjoyed it more were it not for one little thing: there was way too much telling and not enough showing. (Actually, there were other little things that bugged me, too, but that was the main annoyance.) I wanted to tell Soorya, the narrator, “Stop. Stop telling me who you are. Stop telling me who everyone else is. Just live your story, and I will see who you are.” The characters never really came to life for me, which is a pretty big drawback in a book that’s more character-driven than plot-driven.
I do encourage you to check out other reviews before writing this book off completely. If you wrote a review, please let me know so I can add it to the list.
I realized when I sat down to write this review that I can count this book for two different challenges – the South Asian Challenge and the What’s in a Name? Challenge (for the “life stage” category). Yay!
Telling instead of showing doesn't work for me either. And hooray for baby steps in the right direction! I'm also a recovering compulsive finisher
We can do it, Ana!
I fall into two categories: a quitter or a finisher. I've never been much of a skimmer, though some books have tempted me in this way. Glad you were able to skim and finish it! I want to read it for the cover. Pretty!
I really like the cover, too, Andi! It's one of the reasons I picked it up.