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Better Together
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Editorial Reviews
From School Library Journal
Grade 7-9-Jade, Amber, and Opal meet for the first time when they are 14 and find that their destinies are inextricably intertwined in some way that they have yet to discover. Each girl possesses a stone that matches her name. These stones have great power and are related to an ancient prophecy about the saving of the Light. The girls embark on a quest to understand their role in life and, in the process, enter the kingdom of Fairytale, where some of the magical beings are good, and some are evil. Another key figure is a knight errant who calls himself the Nameless One, who is also destined to be part of the fulfilling of the Prophecy. This is a long, involved story that often takes on the quality of a B movie. The style is somewhat flat and the voice is very youthful. Characters are constantly explaining situations and history. There is a dependence on magical objects that descend willy-nilly into the story and chance meetings in which the girls and the Nameless One are immediately known and accepted. Dialogue is stiff. While there are some interesting fantastical creatures and plot twists, there are also some very odd elements. Death, for instance, is "on strike" so no one can die. There is a small parallel story of a dying girl in a Paris hospital who has dreams that somehow relate to Jade, Opal, and Amber. The purpose of this device remains fuzzy to the end. Jacket information reveals that the author is 15 years old. While the story is a definite accomplishment for one so young, it is not a polished or mature work of fiction.
Bruce Anne Shook, Mendenhall Middle School, Greensboro, NC
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Gr. 5-8. Bujor's debut novel was a sensation in Europe, garnering lots of attention because the author was 14. This celebrity may be worthy of note (a big media campaign is planned for the U.S.), but the fact is, the book sounds as if it were written by, well, a 14-year-old. The story, set far in the future, starts off well enough. Jade, Amber, and Opal are thrown together because of a prophecy and their possession of stones that allow them to do magic and have psychic powers. In an incredibly long march to stamp out evil, the girls find themselves struggling against hardships and embroiled in battles, including a final bloody one in which "the Chosen One" fights to unite the lands of "Fairytale" and the "Outside" into one realm. If all this isn't enough, Bujor injects a saccharine story about a girl dying in modern-day Paris. The characters are one-dimensional, the plot derivative, and the writing sluggish. So why purchase this? Because of the buzz, which will be heard at libraries, and perhaps for the inspiration it can give young writers. If she can get published . . . Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
See all Editorial Reviews
Grade 7-9-Jade, Amber, and Opal meet for the first time when they are 14 and find that their destinies are inextricably intertwined in some way that they have yet to discover. Each girl possesses a stone that matches her name. These stones have great power and are related to an ancient prophecy about the saving of the Light. The girls embark on a quest to understand their role in life and, in the process, enter the kingdom of Fairytale, where some of the magical beings are good, and some are evil. Another key figure is a knight errant who calls himself the Nameless One, who is also destined to be part of the fulfilling of the Prophecy. This is a long, involved story that often takes on the quality of a B movie. The style is somewhat flat and the voice is very youthful. Characters are constantly explaining situations and history. There is a dependence on magical objects that descend willy-nilly into the story and chance meetings in which the girls and the Nameless One are immediately known and accepted. Dialogue is stiff. While there are some interesting fantastical creatures and plot twists, there are also some very odd elements. Death, for instance, is "on strike" so no one can die. There is a small parallel story of a dying girl in a Paris hospital who has dreams that somehow relate to Jade, Opal, and Amber. The purpose of this device remains fuzzy to the end. Jacket information reveals that the author is 15 years old. While the story is a definite accomplishment for one so young, it is not a polished or mature work of fiction.
Bruce Anne Shook, Mendenhall Middle School, Greensboro, NC
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Gr. 5-8. Bujor's debut novel was a sensation in Europe, garnering lots of attention because the author was 14. This celebrity may be worthy of note (a big media campaign is planned for the U.S.), but the fact is, the book sounds as if it were written by, well, a 14-year-old. The story, set far in the future, starts off well enough. Jade, Amber, and Opal are thrown together because of a prophecy and their possession of stones that allow them to do magic and have psychic powers. In an incredibly long march to stamp out evil, the girls find themselves struggling against hardships and embroiled in battles, including a final bloody one in which "the Chosen One" fights to unite the lands of "Fairytale" and the "Outside" into one realm. If all this isn't enough, Bujor injects a saccharine story about a girl dying in modern-day Paris. The characters are one-dimensional, the plot derivative, and the writing sluggish. So why purchase this? Because of the buzz, which will be heard at libraries, and perhaps for the inspiration it can give young writers. If she can get published . . . Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
See all Editorial Reviews
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