![]() ![]() Oriana draws strength by imagining herself as the legendary hero Neliem, a savior of the poor and unprotected. Her prospects are bleak many of her fellow islanders have died of the plague that almost took her, and those who survive eke out an existence of penury, servitude, and near-starvation. The narrator and protagonist of Neliem is Oriana, a teenage girl living in squalid poverty on an island nation that’s fallen under the control of the mainland conquerors her people name Untouchables. Happily, that’s not the case with Neliem, which offers a fully realized, flesh-and-blood main character who kicks her share of butt while remaining complex and convincing. This action/romance is very much in the “kick-butt heroine” vein, which I don’t always enjoy at times, I feel that the character of the strong, capable, physically active YA heroine has become a mere reflex on the author’s part without context or nuance. The first is Neliem, a YA fantasy by debut author Clare Di Liscia. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |