by Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: YA magical realism
My Rating: ★★★★★
Description:
Everyone wants a miracle.
The Soria family has lived in Bicho Raro for generations. They have been blessed with a special gift -- they are able to perform miracles.
Beatriz Soria is emotionless, logical. Not a saint. Not a miracle worker. She's just the brain behind her cousin Joaquin's pirate radio station.
But when Daniel, the Saint of Bicho Raro, does the one thing the Soria's are forbidden to do -- interfere with a miracle -- everything changes. And as the line between the sinners and the saints grows more and more fuzzy, it becomes more and more clear that to save Daniel, Beatriz may need to create a miracle of her own.
Overall Thoughts
Maggie Stiefvater is officially one of my all-time favorite authors. The way she draws her characters, her writing style, the beautiful, vivid settings of her stories... everything about her writing appeals to me so much. And this is coming from someone who hasn't even read The Raven Boys. I loved the atmospheric writing style, the general weirdness of the whole book, and the well-drawn, life-like characters.
The Characters
I loved the way the author introduces us to each new character. We get to see a little bit about who this person is before we move on with the story, but in a way that feels perfectly natural. I loved how all the characters, even the random side characters, felt like people. It was the same way with Stiefvater's The Scorpio Races, so I have a feeling this is something the author is just really good at.
Worldbuilding/Writing
Worldbuilding/Writing
This book was so perfectly weird. Magical realism is a genre I'm quickly falling in love with, and Maggie Stiefvater pulled it off perfectly. The setting -- the Colorado desert -- was a character itself, and it really grounded the story and made it feel so genuine even when there's so much randomness going on (like a girl with a perpetual rainstorm over her head).
Another thing I loved -- the omniscient narrator! I'm not a big fan of the omniscient POV, usually. It feels too distant for me, because I love really getting to know the characters and their struggles and learning alongside them, which I feel a lot of omniscient books can't pull off well. But in All the Crooked Saints, I couldn't imagine it being told any other way.
Which is another thing I have to say about this book -- nothing was unimportant. The story was a beautiful tapestry, and all the threads lined up and interwove beautifully with each other. All in all, this book was amazing. Definitely a new favorite for me.
Content
Recommended for ages 13 and up.
Mentions of drinking. One character smokes marijuana.
A man is said to have murdered a sheriff. Several appearances of some rather vicious dogs. In one scene, characters accidentally are witness to a cock-fight. I don't recall any cursing, but there may have been a few instances of minor swearing. Nothing horrible, anyway.
Kissing.
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