I find it confusing and frustrating that I would consider myself polarized by this story. On one hand I like the whole "one girl in all the world" idea that it turns into, on the other I just don't like the laziness that happens throughout most of it.
There's a background problem. Celia ignores it in favor of having fun with a new friend. She gets in trouble and the resolution happens very quickly.
Its so focused on the here and now that it forgets to TRY and have a big build up for the big reveal. From reading it you gather that Janice, her mother, and Celia are on the run from someone because Celia has a blood problem, and that's about it. It reveals all of the past in one chapter and honestly I was left disappointed and shaking my head at how much it didn't even TRY to amaze me. Celia is never positioned as the underdog and there's never much of a struggle or a major conflict. She goes about most of the book feeling oppressed by her mom but still gets her way. She does grow as a character and she becomes more bold but it never gives her a chance to grow up, to become more mature about her situation and reality. If I can explain that a little more, she learns to swim and for that she grows as a character, but its never presented that she has to learn what the panic of drowning feels like.
In that sense the characters are dry and stuck in their habits. Celia is just wanting her freedom and does some pretty stupid things; I gather this is from her not knowing much about how the world works and it never presents more opportunities for her to learn. Janice is an alcoholic that can never come to terms with Celia wanting freedom; in the worst moment of the book she decides to drink rather than acting like a real mother. Sol is a sidekick to Celia and, being shown as a pushover for most of the book, has his time to shine that happens at the climax. Frankie is portrayed as a guy with a good heart deep down and of course that means he turns into an ally. Doctor Hudson is given a noble stance behind what she's done but goes about her task in the completely wrong way, almost a typical antagonist archetype.
In the end, everything's peachy, everything turns out fine, and that whole small sci-fi angle is just a meaningless nod in the grand scheme of things.
There's a background problem. Celia ignores it in favor of having fun with a new friend. She gets in trouble and the resolution happens very quickly.
Its so focused on the here and now that it forgets to TRY and have a big build up for the big reveal. From reading it you gather that Janice, her mother, and Celia are on the run from someone because Celia has a blood problem, and that's about it. It reveals all of the past in one chapter and honestly I was left disappointed and shaking my head at how much it didn't even TRY to amaze me. Celia is never positioned as the underdog and there's never much of a struggle or a major conflict. She goes about most of the book feeling oppressed by her mom but still gets her way. She does grow as a character and she becomes more bold but it never gives her a chance to grow up, to become more mature about her situation and reality. If I can explain that a little more, she learns to swim and for that she grows as a character, but its never presented that she has to learn what the panic of drowning feels like.
In that sense the characters are dry and stuck in their habits. Celia is just wanting her freedom and does some pretty stupid things; I gather this is from her not knowing much about how the world works and it never presents more opportunities for her to learn. Janice is an alcoholic that can never come to terms with Celia wanting freedom; in the worst moment of the book she decides to drink rather than acting like a real mother. Sol is a sidekick to Celia and, being shown as a pushover for most of the book, has his time to shine that happens at the climax. Frankie is portrayed as a guy with a good heart deep down and of course that means he turns into an ally. Doctor Hudson is given a noble stance behind what she's done but goes about her task in the completely wrong way, almost a typical antagonist archetype.
In the end, everything's peachy, everything turns out fine, and that whole small sci-fi angle is just a meaningless nod in the grand scheme of things.
Rawsthorne gives us no reason to like any of the characters. They are bland and hollow non-constructs with pre-scripted emotions happening almost as if on cue. We can't see ourselves in their shoes and we can't relate to any of them because there's nothing to relate to. Its like Rawsthorne did not care for her characters either, no emotional attachment. Just puppets in play. So why should we care either?
Its not very well written. There are letters and sometimes words missing, especially near the end. It seems as though Paula Rawsthorne was excited about the ending and rushed to get it done. I'm honestly surprised it took me a long time to finish reading it but then I think of just how bored I was with it. Its all tell, no show. Where time could be spent fleshing out characters, places, situations, histories, etc. it spends that time jumping between moments and characters, telling the reader what's happening.
Maybe I'm looking at it the wrong way. There are no holes in the plot, its fleshed out as well as it could be, and its not meant to be hard sci-fi. Its also certainly not meant to be a groundbreaking slice-of-life relatable story. Its just a story. It happens. You read it and put it on your shelf. You don't have to read it again after that. Like I will do. That's the only way I can look at it.
******
Above is my original review posted to GoodReads.com. I had just finished the book and, only a few days before, thought I was going to enjoy the rest of it.
But I was wrong.
As I was writing the part of the character not growing up, it occurred to me that a story series from years ago did just that but almost got it right.
Replica by Marilyn Kaye
Sadly, both of these books are mainly meant for an audience of teenage girls, but what I like is the story. I like the mystery of the past and the sci-fi angle. I don't "relate" to the stories, I just enjoy them.
Marilyn Kaye shows us how Amy grows throughout the series; we understand what she goes through. Meanwhile Paula Rawsthorne doesn't give any inkling that Celia understands her situation. She's never given time to allow it to sink in before she's suddenly in peril. Next thing we know, its all sunshine and the future is bright.
How is it that a book series from 1998 about a pre-teen girl in California almost got right what a book from 2011 about a teenage girl in the UK couldn't?
Yes Replica had more time to flesh things out because it is a series, but Amy is sometimes presented as a naive youth even in the most obvious of dangerous situations. She learns, she reacts, she grows, she's living.
The disappointment in Celia Frost comes from the fact that it doesn't even try. We're given no time between the immediacy of the conflict and the last chapter that lets us know she's understanding of what's going on and what weight the world has placed on her shoulders.
Replica has readers caring about Amy, her mother, and her friends. Celia Frost has us wanting to know more about what's going on with them rather than just what's happening.
