Pale Phoenix

Pale Phoenix
written by Kathryn Reiss



I really don't know why I never noticed this when I read them before, but Kathryn Reiss's books are just so predictable. True, they are full of those wacky plot twists that you would never see coming, but for the most part, you can see things coming from miles away! Maybe it's just that I'm not in the target age range anymore, or the fact that these are rereads, but I still feel as if too much information is given, or not so much information as constant hinting. It's still pretty amazing in Pale Phoenix how she's constructed this great new plot, and yes, predictable as it is, it's still not something you'll find written by anyone else, completely original and new ideas. It's also great to see the continuity between this and Pale Phoenix, particularly the budding relationship between Dan and Miranda. The characters start off as your standard dull characters, but throughout the book, you see the characters evolve in front of your eyes, and it's a pretty neat thing to see. My one other complaint somewhat goes along with the predictableness--everything is a bit too convenient. Here they are, stuck in a perilous situation with apparently no way out, but wait, wait, look, there's the completely random solution that nobody ever would have thought of because it's completely convoluted, but here it is, it seems to have just randomly popped into my head! It gets very annoying, but it does provide for a satisfying ending.

Rating: 3.5/5