Among Others by Jo WaltonMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
I loved this book. It is one of the best books that I have read in the last few years. This book will go in my favorites folder on my kindle, and I will read it again and again in the years to come.
What I Liked:
1. I loved all of the scifi and fantasy references. Some reviewers have described this book as a love song to scifi and fantasy, and I can see why. Although I have not read many of the books, the protagonist mentions, I don't think that I missed too much. At the same time, I look forward to reading this book in the future after reading some of the books that she mentioned and seeing if I have a more nuanced understanding of the character.
2. I appreciated the book being diary entries. I think it helps remind the reader that the narrator may be unreliable. During the majority of the book, I constantly questioned what was "real." Although it frustrated me when I was reading it, I really do like the unreliable narrator concept. I kept asking myself if the magic was real or was Mori just telling me a "fairy story" as she says at the beginning of the book.
3. I feel that Jo Walton did a great job writing as a 15-year old girl. Mori had depth and talked like a girl her age. Many times authors write their teenagers as wise beyond their years or really dumb. Mori was believable.
What I Didn't Like:
1. There should be a list of all the books and authors mentioned somewhere at the end of the book. I have found websites where this was done, but it would have been nice to include in the book itself.
2. I wish that the realness of the magic had been shown earlier in the book. Although one could say that there was never any proof, I am choosing to believe that the magic was real. Therefore, a little evidence earlier on would have been nice.
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