The Troubled Girls of Dragomir Academy and The Last Cuentista [MG Reviews]

These two middle grade speculative fiction titles had me thinking “Did I read the same book as everyone else??” Read on for some grumbly reviews. Click through the additional reviews for more positive takes!

The Troubled Girls of Dragomir Academy by Anne Ursu

• The Troubled Girls of Dragomir Academy is only the second book by Ursu that I’ve read. This book fell far short of my expectations, based on reviews and my expectations after having read The Lost Girl. Immediately after finishing it (back in January), I thought it wasn’t for me but maybe still a relatively strong middle grade book. It was a Cybils finalist, after all! But here we are nearly a year later and I don’t recall anything positive about it. Luckily I have some notes to go off of.
• For the first half, I had no idea where the story was heading. For a long while, I thought it was going to explore how Dragomir Academy was secretly a place where girls were empowered to embrace their individuality and learn magic. (It is most decidely not that.)
• Maya makes a solid protagonist. The exageratted adult characters are not something I’m a fan of. Which brings me to my next point…
• I found this book reads something like a fable, with both direct and allegorical commentary on equality and feminism. Perhaps it doesn’t hold the greatest kid appeal… but I found it less didactic than The Last Cuentista. The narrative of The Troubled Girls of Dragomir Academy allows more room for readers to consider what’s happening and why it’s not good, rather than just telling them “It’s not good”.
• I did make a tiny note saying “the unique plot and smooth writing are some of this books strengths”. I am unable to elaborate further. 😛
• Additional reviews: Briana @ Pages Unbound, Rosemary @ Mom Read It, Charlotte @ Charlotte’s Library, Amanda @ Teen Librarian Toolbox

• The premise described in the jacket blurb of The Last Cuentista sounded fascinating. Unforutnately, I found the story fell short of delivering on the promise of that premise. The fact that Petra is the only one to remember what earth was like before doesn’t carry as much weight as the jacket implies, or as you might imagine it would.
  • A note I made at 22% in: “so far pretty solemn, some character establishment and basic prose/plotting to seet up the story. A little clunky but whatever. premise still promising.” Alas, I did not find the story fulfilled that promise.
• While no one would argue that the conformity strived for by the collective (the collective = the antagonists in the story) is a terrible solution for the problems humanity faced on earth, I felt like there wasn’t a lot in the story that demonstrated why it was such a terrible idea (apart from them wanting to dispose of anyone who thought differently). To be more plain, there wasn’t much in the story that highlighted why we value diversity.
• Or perhaps I should frame that as: I would have liked to see more nuance beyond the collective’s depiction of “Everyone think same = good, if think different = bad”. I imagine that would be difficult to illustrate when Petra is the only person who recalls living in a world with diversity. Perhaps having more of the sections where Petra recalls her life before would have strengthened the story.
• The ending fell flat for me as well. Overall, I found it fairly solemn, difficult to get through (part of that was certainly the lack of characters with personality or a positive relationship with Petra), and a bit too didactic. I can understand why this won the Newbery – but I don’t think it has a lot of kid appeal.
• Additional reviews: Alicia @ A Kernel of Nonsense, Charlotte @ Charlotte’s Library, Bec @ Bec and Books,

Did you read any books this year that fell short of your expectations?