To Nowhere, by C.E. Wilson

To Nowhere, by C.E. Wilson 

Hey all! 

I just finished To Nowhere, by C.E. Wilson! 

This book was given to me by the author for an honest review. This does not change my opinion on the book in any way. 

Get ready for a lot of words in quotation marks! 

To Nowhere is about a girl, Lyris, who is attracted to Wyatt, a boy who is a bit strange, and who seems fascinated about one of the rooms in an abandoned house. They quickly get together, and he keeps telling her not to go to that room without him. Eventually, curiosity gets the best of Lyris, and she goes into the room, to find that it is actually a portal to another world, where her kind are barely 6 inches tall, and the world is populated by 'giants'. She is then kept as a pet by Brindt, a younger giant who is amazed with her, and would protecter with everything he has. 

To be completely honest, the idea was incredible, but the presentation needs some working on. In brief, a few of of the plot twists were slightly predictable, the first half of the book consisted mainly of arguing because of language barriers, and I just found Lyris to be pretty stubborn and difficult. Or, as Brindt puts it, "impossible". 

The plot was great! It was very unique compared to the other YA books going around nowadays. I loved the idea of big people keeping little people as 'pets', kind of like barbies (of course I was against the act, I'm just saying it was creative =p ) The beginning was a tiny bit slow, with Lyris and Brindt not understanding each other, but as soon as the understood what they were saying to each other, the plot went very smoothly, and in very interesting directions. 

One thing I wish could have been included is how the other 'giants' treat their 'Insignificants' (little humans). Lyris is so afraid of Brindt for most of the book, and he kept saying that she was safe with him. I wish we would know what she was safe from. I understand the harshness of Brindt's mom - since she sells the 'insignificants' as a side job, it makes sense for her to be a bit 'harsh' with them, and it makes sense why Brindt keeps Lyris 'safe' from being sold. But it's the buyers that I'm interested in. 

Now for the characters - as mentioned, I think that Lyris was pretty difficulty for most of the book. She did not stop being harsh to Brindt until she suddenly realizes that he's actually a really sweet 'giant'. She kept calling him a monster and saying how scared she was of him even though he did everything he could to make her comfortable. I mean I understand the confusion and fear for the first few days, but after a week I think she could have eased up a bit. Also, I feel like she has strange emotions from time to time. 

**spoiler** For example, when Wyatt 'dies', she doesn't even react! (That really bothered me). Then, when she goes back to her world, she is super concerned for him!? **spoiler**

Wyatt is also strange. This is what I didn't appreciate about him (other than the fact that he was a back-stabbing traitor, but that was the point =p) - He 'cares' for Lyris so much that he risks everything to rescue her (twice) from the 'giant' world that HE LED HER TO, but, in the end, he basically tells her that he only cares for her because of her body. Aaaand she doesn't mind. NO! He does a whole spiel about him going back because he realized that he actually cared for her and that she was special for him and whatnot, and then he just says 'because you're hot'. The guy deserves so many slaps and punches for saying that, it's incredible. But that means that he really had the antagonist character around him, which was good. (The whole book basically REVOLVES around Lyris's looks, Wyatt likes her looks, she is valuable because of her looks, Brindt likes her looks... How about personality? I understand why it was important to the plot, but I feel like it could have been a bit more subtle.)

Brindt was really sweet though! :D Good 'giants' rule. He cared so much for Lyris - he did his best to make her as comfortable as possible, he kept her safe, he made clothes for her... He was my favorite character, even though he was the antagonist for the first half of the book... go figure =p 

Another thing that I appreciated was how C.E. Wilson managed to twist around the meaning of certain symbols. Take the collar, for example. Usually it would be given to someone/thing who is a slave, or at least has to stay attached to the owner at all times. Here, as the collar helps with translation, it takes that symbol to give Lyris a position of equality with Brindt. In fact, in the book, Brint says that he stops seeing Lyris as an 'insignificant' when he gives her the collar, but more as an equal. Very nice.

However, she also did a good job with placing certain animalistic features that you would never give a human into the story (having a leash, being a pet, staying in cages, etc...). 

Overall, the writing style was great for the story, but I think that some ideas could have been written more in-depth, with more back-story to them. 

Lastly, I thought that the whole Stockholm syndrome going on, with Lyris caring more and more for Brindt, was a bit strange... but it was a nice idea because it's rarely included in books nowadays! 

My question now is weather or not this book will have a sequel - the end kind of leaves you hanging, and keeps things wide open for a part 2! :D

All in all, I loved the creativity of the plot, the symbolism, the writing style, and Brindt's character. However, I still think that the characterization for Lyris and Wyatt could have been a bit more realistic. Also, the whole thing about appearance had too big of a role in this story. It wasn't my thing, but I can see why and how it can become popular! Nice start!

I'm giving this book a 3/5 FEATHERS!!!! 

YES! I'm finally starting my feather rating system! Thanks so much to everyone who voted!

Also, have you read To Nowhere yet? What did you think about it? Let me know in the comments! :D