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A review by alecashlark
Over the Tracks by Anna Green
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Over the Tracks (The Heart Rate of a Mouse, #1) makes reading a year's worth of books that blend into one another in their mediocrity, all worth it. This book is exceptionally well written. The plot is flawlessly put together, but the phenomenal character development is even better. The romance is heartwarming but also heartbreaking at the same time and nothing short of unforgettable. Ninety-nine percent of the time, I don't actually mean it when I say something is amazing, but Over the Tracks really, truly is.
The Heart Rate of a Mouse Series is a masterpiece. I despair that I can never write a review that will give it's brilliance any semblance of justice. But I am forever grateful to have been blessed with the opportunity of knowing and reading it.
Writing:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Characters: ⭐⭐⭐⭐+ | Romance: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Plot: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Final rating: 5+ stars!
First of all, I don't consider this and the other books in the series fanfiction, and I don't love them all as much as I do because I'm a fan. When I first read this series, I didn't know anything about Panic! at the Disco except it being a band. I couldn't even be sure if Ryden is also a band or just a person. I still don't and I still can't. And I like it that way, thankful even, because my reading experience wasn't affected by any expectation or preference a fan would have had. And after reading it the first time, I never sought to know more about the inspirations of these books because the characters are already very real to me, so there was no need. Now, let's just forget that I said anything about fanfiction.
What makes how this book is written, the way everything comes together, exceptional, among other reasons, is the obvious fact that the author has written it solely to tell the story. Anna Green isn't shy about, doesn't tiptoe around, doesn't hold back with sensitive, offensive and problematic content, and there are more than enough of these in the book, but they are all organic. The story is in no way influenced by reader expectation. The author doesn't care what I want from the story or how I will react to it, and this makes everything in this book— the plot, the characters, and the romance —indisputably authentic. And because it all feels so real, its effect and impact on me, the emotions I feel in response to it, are that much more profound and encompassing.
Next, we have the plot. Aside from it being authentic, the plot is also flawlessly put together. It's easy to see that it's not just a continuous flow of narration, that there are pieces there, the ones that make the plot matter, and there are gears, the ones that move the plot further, and it's incredible how the author has arranged and made them all fit perfectly together.
It's very impressive, but by my personal taste, the most remarkable attribute of the plot is its seamlessness, which makes this and the other books so re-readable. It's seamless in the way that when I reread the series, I'm discovering new things about the plot, the characters, and the romance that I never would have discovered without the knowledge from the first time. In a way, it's not actually going back but going through a cycle, which is why I get the impression that it's seamless. And I don't believe it's the same in most books.
It's hard to notice especially during the first time and without having read the entire series, but this attribute manifests in certain small details in the plot which are actually passive elements that will become active later in the series. And once I have finished the entire series and therefore have seen those elements in their active state, I immediately want to go back to the start and see what I have missed. And I almost certainly have missed much because they're so subtly situated in the plot that they're quite easy to disregard. And forget.
Now, the best thing about this masterpiece is the phenomenal character development. The main character, in whose perspective the narrative is told, whose distasteful thoughts I, as a reader, can't avoid, but whose actions blatantly contradict said thoughts and warms my heart as a result, makes up most of the story. In fact, he is the story. That might sound stupid because, of course, the main character is the story! But no. Harry isn't the story and neither is Katniss nor Lara Jean. They are just main characters. But in this book, the main character is the story, and he, as the story, is captivating.
I believe, at the risk of offending them, that the people who fault this book for its problematic content have not fully grasped the multi-layered depth of the main character. Everything a reader needs to fully understand him is smoothly fused into the narrative, which is why I completely relate to those people because I also missed those clues the first time. But now that I notice them and have fully understood the main character, I realize that the sensitive, offensive, and problematic content are absolutely inevitable because who he is in this book is who he truly is.
Now let's backtrack a bit. If he is the story, then is he likable? Because if he's not, then what's the point of reading the story? Honestly, on the surface, he is not. But I don't care about what's on the surface. As a reader, I want and need to dig deep into a character. And once I've done that with him, I find out that not only is he likable, he's actually lovable. He is very flawed, but he has strong redeeming qualities although very few. And I don't believe in every thing he says because I know that he doesn't really mean most of them.
Finally, the romance. Sigh. I lost count— I can't even make a loose estimate —of how many times my heart has jerked and constricted in excitement, fear, love, hurt, happiness, disappointment, fulfilment, jealousy, and more. Needless to say, it's a rollercoaster ride of emotions. This book makes me irrevocably in love then breaks my heart into pieces, and I'm left with no choice but to read the next one in hopes that it'll glue the shards of my heart back together.
The love story in this series is an emotional storm, and sometimes the raging winds of heartbreaking emotions still for a moment, and that's when sunrays of heartwarming emotions pierce through the dark clouds and touch me, and I feel it down to your bones. It's the most intense and unforgettable I've ever read.
I recommend this to everyone, but please heed the trigger warnings at the beginning of the book, which you can get a free copy of for free on AO3. And if you decide to still read the book after that, please have the desire and patience to truly understand the main character and the story. It's the only way you'll appreciate the story and see the book for what it is. And you won't regret it because he's so worth it.
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The Heart Rate of a Mouse Series is a masterpiece. I despair that I can never write a review that will give it's brilliance any semblance of justice. But I am forever grateful to have been blessed with the opportunity of knowing and reading it.
Writing:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Characters: ⭐⭐⭐⭐+ | Romance: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Plot: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Final rating: 5+ stars!
First of all, I don't consider this and the other books in the series fanfiction, and I don't love them all as much as I do because I'm a fan. When I first read this series, I didn't know anything about Panic! at the Disco except it being a band. I couldn't even be sure if Ryden is also a band or just a person. I still don't and I still can't. And I like it that way, thankful even, because my reading experience wasn't affected by any expectation or preference a fan would have had. And after reading it the first time, I never sought to know more about the inspirations of these books because the characters are already very real to me, so there was no need. Now, let's just forget that I said anything about fanfiction.
What makes how this book is written, the way everything comes together, exceptional, among other reasons, is the obvious fact that the author has written it solely to tell the story. Anna Green isn't shy about, doesn't tiptoe around, doesn't hold back with sensitive, offensive and problematic content, and there are more than enough of these in the book, but they are all organic. The story is in no way influenced by reader expectation. The author doesn't care what I want from the story or how I will react to it, and this makes everything in this book— the plot, the characters, and the romance —indisputably authentic. And because it all feels so real, its effect and impact on me, the emotions I feel in response to it, are that much more profound and encompassing.
Next, we have the plot. Aside from it being authentic, the plot is also flawlessly put together. It's easy to see that it's not just a continuous flow of narration, that there are pieces there, the ones that make the plot matter, and there are gears, the ones that move the plot further, and it's incredible how the author has arranged and made them all fit perfectly together.
It's very impressive, but by my personal taste, the most remarkable attribute of the plot is its seamlessness, which makes this and the other books so re-readable. It's seamless in the way that when I reread the series, I'm discovering new things about the plot, the characters, and the romance that I never would have discovered without the knowledge from the first time. In a way, it's not actually going back but going through a cycle, which is why I get the impression that it's seamless. And I don't believe it's the same in most books.
It's hard to notice especially during the first time and without having read the entire series, but this attribute manifests in certain small details in the plot which are actually passive elements that will become active later in the series. And once I have finished the entire series and therefore have seen those elements in their active state, I immediately want to go back to the start and see what I have missed. And I almost certainly have missed much because they're so subtly situated in the plot that they're quite easy to disregard. And forget.
Now, the best thing about this masterpiece is the phenomenal character development. The main character, in whose perspective the narrative is told, whose distasteful thoughts I, as a reader, can't avoid, but whose actions blatantly contradict said thoughts and warms my heart as a result, makes up most of the story. In fact, he is the story. That might sound stupid because, of course, the main character is the story! But no. Harry isn't the story and neither is Katniss nor Lara Jean. They are just main characters. But in this book, the main character is the story, and he, as the story, is captivating.
I believe, at the risk of offending them, that the people who fault this book for its problematic content have not fully grasped the multi-layered depth of the main character. Everything a reader needs to fully understand him is smoothly fused into the narrative, which is why I completely relate to those people because I also missed those clues the first time. But now that I notice them and have fully understood the main character, I realize that the sensitive, offensive, and problematic content are absolutely inevitable because who he is in this book is who he truly is.
Now let's backtrack a bit. If he is the story, then is he likable? Because if he's not, then what's the point of reading the story? Honestly, on the surface, he is not. But I don't care about what's on the surface. As a reader, I want and need to dig deep into a character. And once I've done that with him, I find out that not only is he likable, he's actually lovable. He is very flawed, but he has strong redeeming qualities although very few. And I don't believe in every thing he says because I know that he doesn't really mean most of them.
Finally, the romance. Sigh. I lost count— I can't even make a loose estimate —of how many times my heart has jerked and constricted in excitement, fear, love, hurt, happiness, disappointment, fulfilment, jealousy, and more. Needless to say, it's a rollercoaster ride of emotions. This book makes me irrevocably in love then breaks my heart into pieces, and I'm left with no choice but to read the next one in hopes that it'll glue the shards of my heart back together.
The love story in this series is an emotional storm, and sometimes the raging winds of heartbreaking emotions still for a moment, and that's when sunrays of heartwarming emotions pierce through the dark clouds and touch me, and I feel it down to your bones. It's the most intense and unforgettable I've ever read.
I recommend this to everyone, but please heed the trigger warnings at the beginning of the book, which you can get a free copy of for free on AO3. And if you decide to still read the book after that, please have the desire and patience to truly understand the main character and the story. It's the only way you'll appreciate the story and see the book for what it is. And you won't regret it because he's so worth it.
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