Review: Tiger by William Richter
Goodreads blurb:
A vigilante fights for justice at any cost. Wallis Stoneman isn’t like other teenage girls.(*) She’s beautiful, fearless, and deadly.
Wally lives alone in her Brooklyn loft. She’d be a regular teenager, except that she’s the daughter of a Russian assassin. Crime is in Wally’s blood, but she uses her legacy for good: she solves missing persons cases for the Ursula Society, an under-the-radar organization that uses oft-illegal tactics to find people the police have given up on.
The person Wally most wants to find? Tiger, her own fugitive brother. But the closer Wally gets to finding Tiger, the more dangerous her search becomes. And Klesko, Wally and Tiger’s sadistic father, is again at large. With two highly-skilled con men against them, Wally and Tiger band together to destroy a conspiracy in which they—and their hearts—are mere pawns.
Wally lives alone in her Brooklyn loft. She’d be a regular teenager, except that she’s the daughter of a Russian assassin. Crime is in Wally’s blood, but she uses her legacy for good: she solves missing persons cases for the Ursula Society, an under-the-radar organization that uses oft-illegal tactics to find people the police have given up on.
The person Wally most wants to find? Tiger, her own fugitive brother. But the closer Wally gets to finding Tiger, the more dangerous her search becomes. And Klesko, Wally and Tiger’s sadistic father, is again at large. With two highly-skilled con men against them, Wally and Tiger band together to destroy a conspiracy in which they—and their hearts—are mere pawns.
The truth is, I finished TIGER days ago. And the reason I didn't post the review until now (besides procrastination) is because it just absolutely kills me to give it three stars. There. I said it.
I loved DARK EYES despite its flaws. The character of Wally outweighed these flaws, such as they were. She’s absolutely unique in YA. She kicks ass, she’s smart, and she’s competent. But because of the writing style I always felt removed from her, even at the most poignant moments when I should have been right there with her, feeling her pain and emotional turmoil.
I’m afraid this problem only got worse in TIGER. Except this time, on top of everything, the mystery/thriller aspect just wasn’t up to par compared with DARK EYES. I had everything figured out too early on. HIGHLIGHT TO SEE SPOILERS: Richard Townsend and Archer Divine are the same person—I figured it out the second “Archer Divine” appeared on the page. And Kyle was going to either turn out to be a traitor or die—I knew it the moment Wally expressed some kind of romantic interest in the guy. Sorry, if you use that device in the first book, readers will see it coming the second time. And sure enough, it was both.
Mind you, it did have some very exciting moments, especially toward the end. Tons—and I mean tons—of crazy, violent, explosive action, and a lot of it was perpetrated by Wally (a welcome change from many YA “kick-ass heroines” who are conveniently occupied elsewhere while the love interest does the heavy lifting).
In the end, though, I was left with a feeling like it was all for nothing. Wally is in the same place at the end as in the beginning, which is a step down compared to the first book. Still, just for her sheer awesomeness, I’ll be reading the next installment. And Wally plus the action scenes earn this book three stars anyway.
(*) NOTE: Sorry but this blurb hit a pet peeve of mine square on the head. Isn't like other teenage girls? And what are "other teenage girls" like, pray tell? And on what basis do you make the assumption? I dislike it when books aimed at teenage girls talk down to teenage girls. Thanks.