Stephanie Garber: Caravel

Just started Simbie Yau but at moment feels very much like a light version of The Night Circus...and not in a good way. And writing about Julian is awful. Terribly 'girly gushing fan-fiction' tone and style.

Well having now finished., it was a bit better than suggested initially. The descriptions....short, sentence embedded and very lavishly physical were easily the best parts ( stylistically) of the book. But the characters were weakly drawn I felt. Superficial in their descriptions and relationships the central Julian relationship was constantly written in a sentimental lying gushing fan-fiction #style that was unconvincing and wincingly slushy.

It had a certain narrative drive but I don't feel driven to read the widely signalled sequel.