The House of the Scorpion - Thoughts So Far

Now that I have started reading the novel and have experienced the first section, it's time to discuss my thoughts so far. To be honest, this book is not my favourite at the moment. Why? Well, let's discuss....

First of all, I cannot connect to the characters - especially Matt, the protagonist. I don't know what it is about him. Whether he's too young for me to understand him, or we just have different personalities, I don't feel compelled to read about his life. The writing style is also a bit ramble-y; in the dialogue mostly. In a lot of parts I feel like I'm reading a script instead of a novel. Maybe that's why there's a cast of characters in the front matter.

Another thing that all readers want to avoid is confusion. Good luck people. Nancy Farmer introduced so many characters. I have no idea who they are and what importance they have to the story - if they even have any importance! I’ve needed to look back on the cast of characters quite a bit to find out where they fit in. Every time I check back, it’s takes away from the story.

And ugh... This novel isn't engaging. I mean, I realize that this is the exposition of the book, but honestly? I have read many books that make the beginning more interesting than this. Also, it's a bit predictable, although I'm pretty sure that Nancy Farmer did this on purpose.

Moving onto the things that I liked. I'm not going to lie, it was really hard for me to think up these points, but eventually I dug these valid points up.

I like the premise a lot. It’s so cool, and if anything, that's what’s pushing me to read on. Who doesn't want to read about clones? It's such an original idea, and I praise Nancy Farmer coming up with it.

Another thing that I like is the descriptions that Nancy writes. Yes, one of my weak points is on the writing style, but that was for the dialogue (mostly). The descriptions that Nancy Farmer included were excellent and painted a picture in my head.

My last point is the Spanish that you might have noticed while flipping through the book. It enhanced the mood of the book, and made the overall experience a lot better.

So that's it – my thoughts of the first section of the book. Tonight I'm going to be reading up to page 83, so stay tuned for more thoughts. Happy reading!