The Storyteller is the conclusion to Traci Chee’s The Reader trilogy. It follows Sefia and Archer on their quest to change the Book’s ending so that Archer is no longer the legendary boy destined to die, but the boy who lives. It also follows the author’s other characters introduced in The Reader and The Speaker: namely, infamous Cannek Reed in his quest to achieve immortality, Tanin in her quest to revenge herself on Sefia’s parents, and even the Lonely King and his quest in finding purpose without his kingdom.
Though some people may have found the ending disappointing, I was personally happy to see that this author promised a death, and fulfilled it. I’ve had too many authors say that they weren’t sure their characters were going to make it, only to cop out at the end and have them miraculously survive. If they’re meant to die, I’m glad you fulfil that promise. My favorite part of this book was the twist reveal of the book’s title. It was a beautifully well-done “AHA!” moment, and I applaud the author on that.
The writing, as in the first and second books, is lyrical and prosy, and the characters are well-developed. I personally found myself disliking the main character, Sefia, near the end, mostly because she went a bit selfish and did some pretty unforgivable things in order to save Archer. My favorite character ended up being Cannek Reed. He comes off as a self-centered pirate at the beginning, but ends up being truly noble by the book’s end.
However, unlike the first and second books, I did feel The Storyteller lacked focus. There was a lot of repetition, primarily of characters thinking about their fate and thinking about war and thinking about their pasts and thinking about the deaths of their friends; after a while I felt like I was being beaten over the head with it–as if the author didn’t trust me, the reader, to remember that certain characters had trauma, and other characters had nightmares, etc. Also, there were a lot of battles–like, a lot of battles! The author probably could have cut two or three battles and not lost any tension. Additionally, there was a lotmore sex in this book compared to the earlier books. There were two particular scenes I did not care for, and which immediately dropped the book’s rating because of my personal preferences. (As I’ve mentioned before, I prefer romance that doesn’t beat you over the head, or get explicit with details; do note content review below.)
This book was sent to Compass Book Ratings for review by G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers
Content Analysis:
Profanity/Language: 2 scatological words.
Violence/Gore: Innumerable instances of violence and gore, including but not limited to: Many flashbacks and portentous insight into a character’s imminent death; many instances of characters plotting war strategies; many instances of characters recalling the past violent deaths of their loved ones; many instances of characters being threatened with death; many instances of characters engaging in skirmishes and ambushes resulting in death and injury; a character is killed by poison; characters grapple and fight; in an extended scene, a girl is attacked, thrown to her back and retaliates by cutting her attacker with a blade, then is attacked in turn with her own blade, at which point she uses magic to throw her attacker back, ram a guard’s head into a wall, frees a prisoner, she and another boy attack and are attacked by a horde of vicious boys, she uses her magic to snap necks and break bones, characters are shot at through a door and sustain minor injuries, and then characters are hit with bullets and sustain severe injuries; a characters falls into freezing water; a boy is knocked down and badly beaten; a character’s magic causes cruel injuries, with people missing limbs, bone and skin due to her magic, and she performs mercy killings on them; characters are nearly rammed by an oncoming ship; many instances of characters engaging in pitched sea-battles, with people gutted, hamstrings sliced, and bones broken; many mentions of warships attacking and pillaging villages, leaving many dead; a girl is shot and killed in the arms of her friend; a character contemplates sacrificing others to save the boy she loves; a girl makes a paste from strychnine; characters are badly wounded; a woman coats a sword in poison and kills someone with it; a girl throws a knife into a boy’s chest; many instances of a character having nightmares; characters are fired at with a gatling gun; a character betrays her friend and causes him pain in an attempt to change her story; in an extended scene, characters are slaughtered in a sea-battle, characters lob grenades at enemies, characters are slashed, stabbed and gutted, a boy is shot, a character has a flashback to a friend’s death, characters fall a long distance and one character injures his ankle, a man is shot and killed, characters are hemmed in on all sides by the enemy, two characters jump into the ocean; a man voluntary runs into a fire in an effort to save his prized possessions; in an extended scene, a man is shot and injured, a man kills another man and prepares to blow up a ship, a man is repeatedly shot and fires his own weapons to kill his enemies, a man is struck and knocked down, kicked and beaten by another man with weapons and magic, characters exchange shots and one man shoots a powder keg to blow up a ship; a girl breaks a man’s neck; a woman kills a boy; characters attend funerals.
Sex/Nudity: Many instances of sex and nudity, including but not limited to: Many instances of characters (both boy and girl, and boy and boy) flirting and kissing and touching each other; a boy thinks about days on the beach, skin damp and arms and legs tangled with the girl he loves; a boy traps a girl with his body and kisses her collarbone; a man wants to kiss another man senseless; a boy kisses a girl and splays his hand over her ribs; a boy and girl lay together for warmth (not sexual); a person is referred to as “they”; a boy strips a girl naked to prevent her from freezing to death in her wet clothes (not overly sexual); a boy and girl undress each other and explore each other’s bodies (sexual); characters swim and marvel at each other’s bodies and explore new places on each other with their lips and tongues (sexual); characters sit together in the dark and drop their clothes to the ground (sexual); a girl sees a memory of a boy making love to another girl; a girl runs her tongue over a boy’s shoulder; a man is said to love a woman in his own way; a woman’s clothes are cut away to reveals wounds on her back; a man’s breath touches a woman’s back as her wounds are tended; mention of cramps; a boy regrets losing the chance to be another man’s partner (not overly sexual); a boy and girl spend time together and in bed; characters undress and share a sexual moment (sexual); an unmarried boy and girl sleep unclothed together; a man goes after his male lover.
Mature Subject Matter:
Suicide; War; Gender/sex identity issues; Homosexuality; Trans-sexuality; Gender Neutrality; Betrayal; Poison; Death of friends; Death of family members.
Alcohol / Drug Use:
A character drinks bourbon-laced tea; a man pours out a finger of liquor; a couple reported uses of poison; a man helps himself to liquor; a character uses sleeping darts on guards; characters drink grog like it’s rice wine; character describes wine; characters break out kegs of ale; mention of tavern brawls; liquor bottles smash to the floor during a fight; characters asks who wants to spend their last months drunk; a woman drinks; a man takes drugs; a man flings sleeping powder at another character.
