Fishtailing

FishtailingBy Wendy Phillips

For such a short novel, I was pleasantly surprised by it's progression and detail.The novel is written in free-verse from the perspective of six consecutive characters; four students and two teachers, each with their own back stories. As I began reading this novel, I had expected a mass cliche of teenage drama, cookie-cutter characters (As in they lack originality and personality in general) and half-wit poetry, but I was quick to learn that this is certainly not your average novel.

The characters weren't too bad, Miguel had a decent back story, but pranced about muttering cliches until the end. Natalie was alright (as far as psychotic teenage girls go) but was somewhat overdone in the "bad guy" sense. Tricia really should have developed throughout the story, but she didnt do much besides fill the void that saved the book from boredom. Kyle was by far the best, perhaps because I related to him the best, and  Mrs. Farr and Janice Nishi were more or less the stupid adults. I had the "voices" for adults in 'The Peanuts' running through my head every time I crossed a poem from the teachers, talk about blase. 

Though, I have to give Wendy credit for being creative with the story, and going outside the usual 'Guidelines of a cliche story'. After a bit of thought, I've come to the conclusion that it's tremendously difficult to develop a character within short poems and foggy back stories. How ever, I'm not going to accept any excuses as to why I have next to no idea where the blaze I am for 90% of the story.

The book has a tendency to jump from character to character, hoping you remember what they were doing a few dozen pages ago, leaving you a bit muddled. The only settings I can recall are a garage, a house and a school. Maybe it's because I didn't pick up on the detail, but I feel like it was truly lacking when it came to setting. 

I believe Wendy was trying to focus on the plot when she wrote the book, but it kinda turned out like a flattened cake. The only credible things are the voice (beautifully crafted by the way, with it's teen-angst and relate able thoughts) and it's succinct, adventurous plot. Overall, a quick, solid read with the occasional poem to impress.