Just when I thought it started to climb

Two girls stand all alone. The wind taps them around and everything seems to shake, as if a warning is being given. An icy, dark, empty alley where even death doesn't come haunts their eyes. They hear shoes rattle, their pulses quicken and slowly turn around, their eyes focusing on the very thing they fear.... the last thing they'll ever see is those two hands....

That's what I think when someone says suspense. Now of course I'm a lot more creative than that but for blogging purposes let’s keep things simple.
Simple.

That’s exactly what the author does to the plot of this book. He keeps its WAY TOO simple. And as I pound away on the keyboard getting a feeling that I am loosening the keys, all I think of is the plot and how much better it could have been. Seriously, I am really starting to wonder how this was an "award-winning" book because I personally don't see the book screaming "hey look at me! I got an award and you losers are stuck with nothing." Just no. And my anger worsens because the plot is such a real creative thought. And it encompasses real world problems so it’s supposed to be great- supposed to be. Clearly I beg to differ. And I think some others do to.

Now don't get me wrong because I don't judge a book by its cover and initially I didn't. And I love everything else about the book including the setting and the supporting characters. What killed me inside was the development of the problem and reaction of the main character. So basically the main character [Bright Morning] is with her friend Running Bird and sees some Spaniards coming near them. Before they can flee, the three men surround them and demand that they come with them to be taken as female slaves, who will then be sold to work in a rich home. See. That's such a great thought the author had and it relates to the past and present times of our society. The conversation between the men and the two girls is the men simply saying, "'We will not harm you. You will like the place you are going. Do not try to flee'"(O'Dell 26). First off, when a person is going to kidnap somebody that’s not all what they should be saying- especially in a book. That was it. That was all the Spaniard said to the girls. Easy to decipher? Yeah. At all effective? NO.

On top of that the reaction of the girls directly after that dialogue goes a little like, "We went south along the mesa" (O'Dell 26). Now, reading this you're probably wondering "what? that's not a reaction. What is she writing about?" And you're right. That wasn't a reaction. Because that was all I could find of a reaction. Literally, the major turning point in the book was finished in about a paragraph. Two girls just got kidnapped and the author provided no reaction of the girls at all. There was nothing explaining the feelings of the girls nor did he provide any description of what was going on. Now that made my blood boil.


The idea was really creative but the fact that the author didn't expand on that scene really made me want to stop reading the book because there could have been so much to indulge in at that part, which could have brought up the book to a whole another level. Plus, all the other events- even those that weren't that important- were described in much length and detail allowing the reader to get a grasp on the emotions of the character and really why those decisions were taken by the character. Yet I'm still going to continue reading the book hoping that other important scenes aren't as short as this one.

**This was my review on this part of the book: Reviews on Goodreads that give more opinons on this book