Rating: 2 stars
Headline: With too much head-hopping and an overuse of confusing metaphors, The Golden Apple missed the mark for me
Review:
The Golden Apple by Mika Mathews is the second book in the young adult, Fantasy, series “Oaths of Dante”. The story follows on from The Silver Coin with the protagonist, Dante, awakening to find himself transformed into a wolf. Seeking out the famed golden apple to restore peace and balance to the world’s magic is no small task, but accompanied by a gang of accomplices and the magic of Gaia pulsing through his veins, Dante is ready to tackle the next challenge in this thrilling quest.
There are likeable elements of this book. The personality traits of each wolf character certainly help to make the story more colourful; Dante’s sexuality and the character of Cypress (as just two examples) adds needed diversity into the story in a way which is reflective of the wider world we all live in. More of this, please!
The Golden Apple‘s biggest weakness is in its execution of narrative voice. The book is written in third person omniscient (as a reader we see everything taking place at any given time, as if were were a god-like figure). The story’s primary focus is on Dante and his hunt for the golden apple, yet there is so much head hopping it soon becomes incredibly hard to form a relationship with any of the characters. Really the author should have tackled this book in close third person, focusing specifically on Dante’s inner dialogue, feelings and reactions, and blocking out those of all others.
There are also a number of expressions didn’t quite hit the mark for me. Expressions such as “unbearably beautiful laughter” and “Gaia’s majesty flowed through her…subtly and with great love”. There are a lot of them throughout the book and in the vast majority of cases they come across as one liners that may have sounded good in the author’s head but less so for readers.
In truth this book may have been better if it had been merged with either the first or third book in the “Oaths of Dante” series. At only 121 pages long the word count is a bit slim for the expectations of this genre. With strict editing (ideally from an experienced professional) The Golden Apple could shine as a secondary plot of a bigger story arc, however right now it is not something I will be rushing to read again.
AEB Reviews
Links:
Reedsy Discovery Review: AEB Reviews – “The Golden Apple” by Mika Mathews
Purchase Link: “The Golden Apple” by Mika Mathews (Amazon)
**
My Housemate's a Mermaid 