The Ninja Reader

You know what I think? Aussie writers may hold the title of Best YA Authors of All Time (with some notable exceptions), but I think UK writers hold the second place. Or... UK-set books, I guess. What I mean is, I have yet to find a book set in Britain that I don't like even in the slightest bit (Clockwork Prince had its saving grace).I guess the reason for that is that the stories are closer to my own reality than those set in the US. And the stories tend to focus less on the Peril of the Week and more on the characters and their journey. Whether you pick up Solace of the Road, Fever Crumb, or The Demon's Lexicon, you would find that there is a lot more emphasis on the character development than on the actual plot.I made that big introduction because I figured some context is in order, when I say that Numbers is a character-driven novel. People take issue with that.Rather, like Tatiana said, Numbers is, in a way, a victim of false marketing. It's made to look like some bombastic, plot-driven YA thriller (is that an oxymoron) when in fact, it's more of a story about loss and grief and coping with the fact that you're merely mortal. I only read the synopsis (and at that, only skimmed it), so I didn't have expectations (of the plot) when I started reading. And I didn't take issue with the way it was set up, either. Jem and Spider are two very realistic teenagers - restless, angry and emotion-driven. Knowing what kind of a bomb I was when I was fifteen (no details, suffice to say I fought with boys instead of kissing them), I'm not at all surprised at their decisions throughout the book. They're not rational. They're not sensible. Guess what? There are teens like that. Especially teens who have already been burned by the system. I take the time to address these issues because it strikes me as weird that people would give this book such a low rating because of them. Halo has a higher rating than this, and it's not half as good a book. Why? Just because it fit its marketing better? Come on.So if I spent so much time defending it, why didn't I give it a higher rating, you might ask. Well, I tell you, I did want to like this book. I mean, you do know how hard it is to put these graphics in, right? Okay, in all honesty, I think that the whole numbers thing isn't used to its full potential. I think this book would qualify better for magical realism than outright fantasy. I mean, only Jem has that power and she doesn't even have it at the end and it has an almost allegorical quality to it. However, it does serve as a plot device, so it's not totally magical realism, but it's also not really fantasy...What I mean to say is that Numbers is a mash up of genres, but it never really takes advantage of them. Likewise, Jem is aware of her power, but she doesn't really consider it. Sure, she's angry and stuff, but she's a pretty passive player in the whole book. She never really tries to make things happen, and when she does, her logic is... hard to follow. In the end, I didn't really get how her character arc progressed.Nevertheless, I do think that this book deserves a shot. It is well-written and for the most part it makes up a good story. Just be aware - it's not quite what the synopsis makes it out to be.