Review: Mary Quirk and the Twilight of Paso Cerrado

Mary Quirk and the Twilight of Paso Cerrado by Anna St. Vincent
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I loved the first book in the series and was keeping this as a treat to savour after I'd fulfilled some other reviewing obligations. Unfortunately, I was slightly disappointed, mostly because of the pacing and a couple of plot-driving coincidences.

It's not until the 81% mark that anything really dramatic happens, which for me is much too late. I know that Mary Quirk is a low-drama teenager, and that's great, but that doesn't mean that her books should be low-drama. The first 81% is taken up with a slow-burn mystery investigation which entirely consists of talking to people and getting small pieces of the puzzle; school mundanities; commendable (but not, in themselves, exciting) efforts to unify the class and bring in a new member, who's annoying but, thanks to Mary's accepting approach, not the cause of all that much conflict; slight progress on the slow-burn romance; and (especially early on) recaps of things that, in Book 1, gave us a fresh sensawunda, but now are just recaps.

By a startlingly obvious coincidence in which the hand of the author is starkly visible, Mary works out the mystery at exactly the point (81% through the book) that makes for the most drama. Any earlier, and the crisis wouldn't be as bad; any later, and the resolution of the crisis wouldn't be as good. But there is no internal reason for her to finally put all the clues together right at the moment that it will create that outcome. It's just "luck".

Then, later, she wakes up and joins the others at exactly the time that will enable her to participate in another dramatic moment - again, by complete coincidence.

So, for me, this failed to live up to the promise of the first book. I remain a fan, though, and hope that the third book will return to a more even dramatic pacing and make less obvious use of coincidence to serve the plot.

Disclaimer: I know the author slightly (under another name) on the Codex writers' forum. I purchased the book, though, and am reviewing it on my own initiative.

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