A Lazy Reader's Review of "All The Crooked Saints" by Maggie Stiefvater

Synopsis

    Here is a thing everyone wants: a miracle.

    Here is a thing everyone fears: What it takes to get one.

    Any visitors to Bicho Raro, Colorado is likely to find a likely to find a landscape od dark saints, forbidden love, scientific dreams, miracle-mad owl, estranged affections, one or two orphans, and a sky full of watchful desert stars.

    At the heart of this place you will find the Soria family, who all have the ability to perform unusual miracles. And at the heart of this family are three cousins longing to change its future: Beatriz, the girl without feelings, who wants only to be free to examine her thoughts; Daniel, the Saint of Bicho Raro, who performs miracles for everyone but himself; and Joaquin, who spends his nights running a renegade radio station under the name Diablo Diablo.

    They are all looking for a miracle. But the miracles of Bicho Raro are never quite what you expect.

Review

    I have quite a lot of thoughts with this read. Most are positive, though.

    I'll start with my issues. Right from the beginning, it was very difficult for me to get attached to the three main characters: Beatriz, Daniel, and Joaquin. It was also hard for me to believe their close dynamic. Both of these were contributed to the fact that we didn't have enough time with these three before the plot began to pick up. I feel like Stiefvater focused on some of the side characters a little too much, and because of it, the dynamic of the cousins suffered. 

    I also thought that pacing was a little too slow. It wasn't until pass the 200 page mark that the story actually started to pick up. And, again, I think this is due to the fact the these side characters had a lot of attention put onto them. This is not to say that I didn't "enjoy" reading about these characters, but I felt like if their air-time was cut in half, it would have been a huge benefit. I would have liked to have gotten at least one more chapter on Daniel, as I thought he was quite a compelling character. The whole "tortured saint" trope is top tier to me and it was a real let down that he only got about two chapter solely focused on himself.

    Now, onto the things that I did like. I'll start with the writing. I've read the first book of The Raven Cycle and I was pleased to see that Stiefvater has a pretty consistent writing style, and it's one that I really enjoy. Her writing is effective in conveying imagery but not overbearing, which is a huge plus. Her use of imagery is so good. There is a scene where Beatriz and Marisita believe that Daniel is dead and she describes the way Marisita is holding him as like that of Mary holding Jesus as he lay dying. It was insane and electric. She ate with that one. 

    I also loved the magical realism in this book. Magical realism is a really big theme in a lot of Mexican folklore. Magic is a part of everyday life and I found it almost comical how a lot of the characters are just so accustomed and unfazed by the oddities that happen around them. 

    Overall, this was a really decent and relatively enjoyable read. I would definitely recommend. I also have to admit that a huge reason behind why I bought this book was because it had one of my last names in it. Soria is a somewhat uncommon Mexican last name, so you could imagine my surprise when I saw it in the synopsis.

Oct. 23, 2024 – Oct. 27, 2024

★★★☆☆

Favorite Quote: "It was often so easy to identify the darkness from the outside. But from the inside, your darkness was indistinguishable from your other thought." ~ p. 305