Review: Obernewtyn by Isobelle Carmody

The Story (from goodreads):

For Elspeth Gordie freedom is-like so much else after the Great White-a memory. It was a time known as the Age of Chaos. In a final explosive flash everything was destroyed. The few who survived banded together and formed a Council for protection. But people like Elspeth-mysteriously born with powerful mental abilities-are feared by the Council and hunted down like animals...to be destroyed. Her only hope for survival to is keep her power hidden. But is secrecy enough against the terrible power of the Council

My Thoughts:

This is another re-read for me. The sixth book in the series has just come out and it's been so long since the last one was released that I'm going to read them all again and refresh my memory. This is way off topic but I remember when my older sister bought this book home from the library, I took one look at the cover (a different one to the pic. Was much uglier) and title and pretty much wrote this one off. Then I got bored and decided to give it a try and now here I am 15 years later still waiting anxiously for the next installment to be released. 

        Obernewtyn is essentially a post apolocyptic fantasy about the world struggling back from the brink of a nuclear holocaust. I have to admit that reading back over the story, there are some inconsistencies that I never picked up when I first read it, but to me personally they didn't really matter. This series is still amongst my favourite. Here comes another listy review:

Things I Liked:

- There's not much in the way of physical action in this book but Carmody has managed to instill sense of suspense and impending doom. Others have called this book slow but I found it a nice change from the usual YA formula of boarding school, mean girls, hot guy.
- Elspeth. She's not your usual impulsive teenager. She's guarded and aloof and very detached. I think it's a good portrayal of a loner which she def is. It's so good to see a character who accurately shows the symptoms of their upbringing instead of the loner who just happens to really be a social butterfly.
- The world building is incredible and the plot is very well thought out.
- The animals. I'm not at all a cat person, but this book features the only cat that I like besides Garfield. 
- All the different mental abilities. I am a sucker for this kind of power.

Things I didn't like:
- One of my pet peeves is when an author feels like they need to emphasize a certain accent by trying to write the accent into the speech. Why oh why? There's a fair bit of this in Obernewtyn but thankfully the characters that the accents are attached to are quite loveable so I decided to let it go.
- This first book in the series is very much a she's good and he's bad scenario. There aren't any characters that I would consider in that grey anti-hero area. If you're evil, you're really evil. 

The Rating:

10/10

Top 5 Supporting Characters

So I've been thinking a lot lately about some of the supporting characters in the novels I've been reading and how they are completely kick-ass awesome but tend to get left out of the limelight a little. This is my tribute to those characters who left a big impression despite their smaller roles (BEWARE- may contain spoilers).

1. EDDIE CASTILE - VAMPIRE ACADEMY/BLOODLINES
I first thought of this post just after reading Last Sacrifice and it seems a little redundant now that Eddie is going to be a part of Bloodlines, but at the time I was seething. As much as I love Rose (my number 1 heroine), I couldn't for the life of me understand how the author could let her be OK with the fact that Eddie was thrown in jail. And hello Queen Lissa, try not to be so useless for once and get him the heck out! (as you can see I'm still holding on to some residual anger).
      Eddie is to me a mini Dimitri, minus the Russian accent and Strigoi experience. He's got it all. Dedication, loyalty, badass fighting skills, quiet thoughtfulness and a dead best friend he's guilty about not being able to save to give him the extra edge. I only hope that Bloodlines will cut poor Eddie some slack.

Image by Mellow Strawberry

2. NEVILLE LONGBOTTOM - HARRY POTTER
Poor little Neville. I loved you from the start and while I agree with the Luna love that seems to have swept Harry Potter fans, you will remain my favourite. At first, I liked Neville because of his penchant for herbology as I'm a bit of an avid gardener and florist. But the more the books continued the more Neville came into his own. I had to suppress a little fit on the train when Neville joined Dumbledore's Army and by the end of Deathly Hallows there is no arguing with the fact that Neville is nothing short of a hero.
       Harry might be the famous Boy Who Lived but Neville had a tough time growing up as well. And he had to do it without the best friends and extra support.

3. MATTHEW - OBERNEWTYN CHRONICLES
It doesn't bode well for a character when the author doesn't give them a last name. You can probably tell by now that I have a bit of a weak spot for underdogs. Mathew was the first misfit to reach out to Elspeth when she arrived at Obernewtyn. Matthew can only be described as a hopeless optimist and a fiercely loyal friend. I was so looking forward to seeing his character develop and then rip! the author had him captured by slavers only to reappear as snippets of Elspeth's dreams.
           Disappointment couldn't accurately describe how I felt when this happened. Especially since his name wasn't even part of the character glossary in my copy of the fourth book in the series, though I'm hoping this was an error of some kind. Some internet sources have even started to speculate that Matthew is the Destroyer that Elspeth is fated to encounter in her search for the beforetime weapons. I refuse to believe this could be true. He will always be the little misfit boy with a lilting accent and a slight limp to me.

4. THRESH - THE HUNGER GAMES
I don't know what it was about him but Thresh really hit a nerve with me. I was sad when the other tributes (even Cato and Clove) died but something about Thresh's death seemed so hollow. He received so little page time but every mention of his name spoke volumes for his character. District 11 had already given their thanks to Katniss for trying to save Rue and she told him so, but Thresh spared her life anyway.
      There was a bit of a Boo Radley feeling about Thresh and I like to think that his actions played a major part in Katniss' survival. I'll say this for the author, she sure knows how to pack a powerful character in a few pages. R.I.P Thresh. We will always remember your sacrifice.

5. JENNA - HEX HALL
OK. This last one is more me being wishful than anything else because Jenna has the potential to be absolutely rockin'. Instead, the author has her tailgating vibrant and sarcastic Sophie without having any of it rub off on her. I mean, come on lady! You are a freakin' vampire. Less of the pining and more of the fangs. PLEEEAASE! Jenna needs a big dose of WWBD (What Would Buffy Do?)
         I thought the trip to England would be a good backdrop for Jenna to really come into her own. Instead she just played house and made nice with another vampire. Huh? Huh? *tears hair out*
         Come on Jenna. I am expecting big things from you in the next installment. Please don't let me down.

So that's my list. Feel free to drop by and let me know which supporting characters get you going.

Over and Out.