R.F. Gammon's Reviews > To Best the Boys

This is a 3.5 star book, but I'm rounding to 4 stars because I can.

This is actually my first book by Mary Weber (shameful, right? For shame, Faith!), and so I had no expectations whatsoever going in. I have a lot of friends who like this author, and I thought she was--okay? Pretty good? (Please don't kill me for not instantly jumping on the bandwagon! I need time to think! XD)

But anyway...let's review this thing.

LIKES:
-BERYLL. At first when he started screaming I was like "Is it a banshee or something?" but no. It's a guy. And Beryll is like the sweetest, yet still hardcore, guy in the world. I loved him SO MUCH. Definitely takes the spot for my favorite character from this book.

-Seleni. Yes, I liked Seleni better than Rhen, but only slightly. But the thing is--Seleni is that girl we've all been waiting for. She dresses up like a boy, disguises her voice, and goes into the maze with Rhen--but she didn't cut her hair because she liked her curls and wanted to keep them. She wasn't afraid of getting dirty, but she loved pretty dresses. She wasn't afraid of a dip in the sea, but she knew when was the proper time to do it. She braved the maze, one of the two first women to do so--but she wasn't interested in uni, she just wanted to do the right thing, protect her people, and hopefully end up getting her guy. She had so many dynamics and was so complex and I LOOOOOVED that.

-Beryll and Seleni. Because that ship was amazing. Top OTP of this book.

-Rhen was pretty cool too. She was dyslexic, per the author's note! And she was a scientist! And I loved that! Her personality started out not that different from most other YA girls, but by the end I was rooting for her and really enjoyed her journey. <3

-HURRAY FOR A YA BOOK WITH TWO PARENTS WHO BOTH LOVE THEIR DAUGHTER AND WHO LOVE EACH OTHER AND ARE JUST GREAT SUPPORTIVE PARENTS!

-The descriptions of the sea were really beautiful.

-The ending! No spoilers here, but since this is a standalone (I think), some plot threads had to get wrapped up nicely whilst others weren't resolved. And I loved the way that was done in this story. The right stuff was wrapped up, the stuff that didn't need to be stayed hanging, and there were enough questions to make room for a sequel while a sequel is still not REQUIRED. Perfect.

LESS LOVES
-The maze--I don't know, for some reason it didn't really feel intense enough? At least for me? I feel like I've read similar sequences a thousand times and it was just sort of the same thing all over again.

-Personal peeve here, but the whole villain thing, the true culprit of the book? EVERY SINGLE BOOK DOES THIS. And I understand why, but like...is it too much to ask to make the guy who's seemed bad the whole time be the bad guy? Or to NOT have a twist villain? I don't know, it just didn't work for me.

-Holm's identity. I wasn't expecting it, but again, I did not particularly appreciate it.

-The worldbuilding felt a little...bizarre. I guess that's just what you get for having a world where monsters are the norm, though. :P

OVERALL
3.5 stars, rounded up to 4. I enjoyed this! Not as much as I was hoping to, but about as much as I expected to, and it was worth the read. If you like Mary Weber, you're looking for a story of female empowerment, or you want a labyrinth story, pick this one up. :D

Thanks to Netgalley for the review copy!