Review: Stray

STRAY
Four Sisters #1
Elissa Sussman
Young Adult/Fantasy
384 pages
Greenwillow
Available Now
Source: ARC from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
Princess Aislynn has long dreamed about attending her Introduction Ball, about dancing with the handsome suitors her adviser has chosen for her, about meeting her true love and starting her happily ever after.

When the night of the ball finally arrives and Nerine Academy is awash with roses and royalty, Aislynn wants nothing more than to dance the night away, dutifully following the Path that has been laid out for her. She does not intend to stray.

But try as she might, Aislynn has never quite managed to control the magic that burns within her-magic brought on by wicked, terrible desires that threaten the Path she has vowed to take.

After all, it is wrong to want what you do not need. Isn’t it?

MY THOUGHTS
Stray is a quick read, one where the flipping of pages comes swiftly and easily, but it’s also a story that keeps us as readers at a distance. The first page instantly draws us in, introducing us to a distressed and disheveled Aislynn before moving us backward in time so that we can fully see just how she came to be so precariously situated. Though we’re engaged early on, once we settle into the story we find ourselves scrambling for purchase, talk of kingdoms, wicked queens, and fairy godmothers mentioned without much context or explanation. We’re left then only with Aislynn to cling to, but without an idea of what she’s up against or how magic works in this world, it’s hard to emotionally root for her journey.

Perhaps the main issue preventing us from throwing ourselves wholly and completely into Aislynn’s social demotion from princess (of which there are apparently many, complete with a hierarchy of royal houses that is not detailed for us in any way) to fairy godmother is the fact that we’re denied reasons for why magic in this world is so feared. We’re told of a Wicked Queen, but she remains nothing but rumor–quiet whispers in dark corners–and we’re given no details as to why her use of magic has had such a profound effect on the raising of every woman in the surrounding kingdoms. We therefore feel no anxiety over Aislynn’s ability or inability to access her magic, no sense of mounting tension as we wonder if her magic will either reveal her or fail her at just the wrong time, and so the emotional threads connecting us to her predicament remain thinner than we might like.

Additionally, it’s unclear where the story itself is headed given no prominent villain, romance, friendship or foil of any kind for Aislynn presents itself to help point us in a clear direction. We’re given snippets of friendships, a touch of romance, and the barest hint of dark things on the horizon, but they all remain largely background elements as we follow Aislynn in her day to day activities at the school where she’s training to be a fairy godmother. As a result, we stay largely on the surface of Stray, longing to extend our claws and really dig so that we can uncover all the wonderful fantasy elements this story has the potential to bring to life.

We’re left on the final page much as we existed for much of the book–a bit off kilter and unsure of where we might be headed moving forward. That being said however, Stray is by no means a bad book, it’s simply lacking a bit of cohesiveness and direction to help us form the bond with characters and story that is the reason we crack a spine in the first place.

Rating: 3/5

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This book was sent to me by the publisher free of charge for the purpose of a review. 

I received no other compensation and the above is my honest opinion.