Review: The Path of the Lost

The Path of the Lost by Beau Kondos
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

For a book with so much colour and creativity, this is actually incredibly DULL.

I wanted to like this. I really did. Not just an Aussie author, but one from my hometown, Melbourne? A YA fantasy novel, set partially in Melbourne, that draws on the creative arts for its magical themes? YES PLEASE.

HOW DID IT ALL GO SO TERRIBLY WRONG???

So there I am, struggling my way through at only the 20% mark. I put it down for a few days. I pick it up again, determined to put in a little more effort. At around 40%, I wonder if other people who have read this book struggled as much as I am currently. Naturally, I go take a look at its reviews.

4.54 average rating?? That's a LOT higher than I was expecting.

Then I notice that a ton of its 5-star reviews come from people who have ONLY reviewed this book, who ONLY joined GR this year, have little or no other activity on GR, and, oh hey, look, they pretty much ALL LIVE IN MELBOURNE.

Look. I appreciate loyalty, and friendship. I GET IT.

But it's pretty obvious that all of these glowing reviews come from TOTALLY BIASED REVIEWERS who quite probably didn't even read the damn thing. And as an honest book reviewer who relies on honest GR reviews regularly, THIS MAKES ME MAD.

So there goes all of my will to give this book a fair go after that.

Now, if it had actually hooked me from the start, I might be a little more lenient. I'm happy to admit that the creativity is there. There are plenty of novel ideas, and I love the IDEA of painting, and writing, and singing, etc being magical. It's really beautiful.

With an idea like that, this could have been a beautiful, lyrical sort of novel.

Instead, we get massive info dumps, trite couplings, stunted action, unlikable characters and so much originality it's more confusingly bizarre than actually clever. Plus, the contrast of snarky, sarcastic James in this fantasy world is too jarring to be easily accepted. I really hated that guy. It's like he's supposed to be a lovable goofball with all his our-world references and jokes, but it just comes across as arrogant and awkward and makes him a totally unlikable hero.

It feels like a lot of telling instead of showing, and by the end I was skimming fairly heavily (without missing anything, mind you). There is action, but it never draws you in, makes you catch your breath. I struggled to imagine the world(s), so it all felt very bland. The whole 'delving' idea is so unique but it was crafted into cliche ceremonies that made it seem cheap. On the whole, it felt more middle-grade than YA because it was so basic and plain.

As mentioned, I wanted to like this. There IS potential for a good story, and I'm sure some will pick it up and really enjoy its originality. But I also feel like I have to be extra critical because of all those ridiculous, biased reviews. Oblivious readers need to know what they're walking into.

So, here's a summary:
-Unique ideas
-Poorly executed
-Average writing
-Dragging plot
-Unlikable characters
-Awkward romance angle
-Zero emotional attachment

Oh and hey, look, the sole female of the book is naked pretty early on. Why do girls get naked so much more in fantasy when the author is a man? Has anyone else noticed this? IT BUGS ME SO MUCH.

Anyhoo.

If you're looking for something completely different and bizarre, this might float your boat, but if you want characters that you can get attached to, this ain't it. If you want pace that doesn't let up, look elsewhere. If you want to become emotionally invested in a story, you'll struggle here.

And if, like me, you are easily offended by authors who rely on biased or dishonest reviews to promote their work, AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE.

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