The Whale Rider

Volle Girl-Power, aber die vielen mythologischen Exkurse bremsen die tolle Story leider etwas aus. Trotzdem schwere Empfehlung!

It has taken me an incredibly long time to finish this book. That's more than a little embarassing considering the length of the novel is, like, 150 pages? Which is nothing for me. Normally.Normally.The Whale Rideris not a bad book. (Let's get that out of the way first.) The sole reason for my slowslowprogress when it comes to this book is the way it's written and the opposite of subtle references to the traditions inMaori cultureand the female status. It felt like reading a schoolbook. (Which isn't negative per se.) But that made it kind of hard for me to enjoy the journey. It fet like I was reading for the purpose of having read the book and not to like it. (Which is sad.)So now to the good things:magical realismaspects, female (instead of male) powerful and important descendant and the relationships between Kahu (protagonist) and her uncle (the narrator) and Nani (her grandmother). GUSH. (Supportive family is one of my favourite things in fiction. And non-fiction - and in general.) Also,whales. And dolphins. And the ocean. I love the ocean. Very much. So there's that.(more reviews on my blog: https://zwischenweltlerinblog.wordpress.com/)