Turning Book 1: What Curiosity Kills (2010) - Plot & Excerpts
This novel was... interesting. I'm not even completely sure it was interesting in a good way. Maybe the word I'm actually searching for is 'weird'. The good thing is that it kept me reading. I think the informal, conversational narrative style helped that along - I wasn't bogged down with prose (mostly, anyway. There were a few times where I wished the book would just "get on with it, already!"). As far as the book's content though - that's were the real weirdness comes in. The sad thing is, I enjoy weirdness - "weird" is the new/old "cool". But this book was weird in a sort of unnerving, borderline repulsive way. The entire process of Mary discovering and going through "the Turning" was cringe-worthy to read about, while being presented as something really cool - and I couldn't get on board with it. About halfway through this novel, I paused, looked up, and realized aloud, "I'm not a cat person." I think that's what it comes down to. This would be so much more enjoyable for me if it were a werewolf (or even were-dog) story - although, I'm aware, there's an overabundance of those floating around.Also, I will point out that, although her character was portrayed as the token black person of the story, I really liked Octavia, her snappy sayings/comebacks, and general sassiness. The main character, eh, not so much. She was a'ight. She definitely got cooler once she gained cat-like reflexes and speed - all the "I don't know how I got it. I wanted the mouse; the mouse is in my hand." -type parts really made me smile while reading this. Speaking of smiling, I did genuinely laugh at several parts... but that causes me to pause, because, is this really supposed to be a comedy novel?If I were to keep reading the series, it would be to read more of Octavia and of how she has to deal with her worst fear (her turn-cat sister, "Kitty") living in the same room as her. I somehow find her more compelling than the actual MC cat-girl and her itty-bitty-kitty perspective. Interesting how that worked out. This book was ok for me. It was neat that people turned into cats and that they were teens. They had no idea what was going on and at first it was really neat to see how it started and what they were going through. However, I didn't like the teen slang that the author tried to give this one character character through. It was too much for me. I am not racist and I'm white, but it was almost as if this author was trying to make fun of african americans in some way. I just didn't like how she gave slang to only the black girl in this book. None of the others teens talked like that. I get it sometimes, but the author should have put all teen slang in there, not just black teen slang. To me I found this a little annoying to read. However, the book was good, but for a young adult book, it was a little childish to me. This type of book is more for kids that are between the ages of 12 and 14.
What do You think about Turning Book 1: What Curiosity Kills (2010)?
An okay read, there were some really funny movements but the book lost momentum near the end.
—allesha
not as original as it could have beensome parts you ask yourself in what world are they
—ash
missing some vital information but i liked it overall ..ful review to come soon
—nick2
The next big thing? Stephanie Meyer readers, are you there?
—hannar98
