Book Review: Never-Contented Things

Never-Contented Things by Sarah Porter

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is a dark, creepy book. It's not horror but it's skirting the line. While this is clearly written in the tone of YA/Teen it is maybe only appropriate for about 15+ due to the sex scenes and gore. Sarah Porter takes us into the realm of the Fae (without actually ever referencing fairies) that is far from all happy and delightful. Some things are easy: obtaining food, having clothing, no money needed, etc. While other things are harder: no real people, creepy fairies, mini versions of yourself, crumbling infrastructure, etc. The overall morale is quite simple, even if the story itself is complex, in order to get something you must give something. Be careful that what you're getting is worth that is being sacrificed.
Yes it's true some believe there is incest in this book. Read #10 below for more

Tips to Reading Never-Contented Things
I'm gonna give a list of tips. These are things that I found I had to accept or make my brain ignore in order to get a bit of enjoyment out of Porter's novel.

1. Fairies exist. They will not be called fairies (and they are clearly evil).
2. Remember the standard fairy rule: never eat or drink while in the Fae realm.
3. Stop thinking you know what will happen and just go with it. This story is teens making decisions and (of course) those decisions may not always be logical or make sense to you as the reader. Remember being a teen is confusing.
4. Yes teens have sex. If you'd like to live in a world of ignorance leave this book behind.
5. Children are creepy and vulnerable.
6. You might want to keep the lights on while you read this.
7. Little mini gremlins (as I called them in my head) are clever. Not weird or stupid; but clever.
8. Just because it's obvious what is happening to us doesn't mean our characters see the whole picture.
9. This is a fictional story with magic. Therefore anything can happen.
10. Finally, and the most important; FOSTER SIBLINGS BEING ATTRACTED TO ONE ANOTHER IS NOT INCEST!!! They met at 11 and 14. This is NOT incest at all. They are not blood related. They merely live in the same house. You may find it awkward or weird (and you're supposed to) but it doesn't make it wrong, illegal and is technically not inappropriate. They are just two teens, like any other, that met each other as teens. Sorry to yell but it infuriates me that people are condemning this book because a core plot point is incest. It's not incest as there is zero blood relation!

Choosing Who To Love
Even were the attraction between our two leading teens incestual it would be okay to be in this book. Why? Because it's fiction. You may not want to read it and that's fine. Then put it down. One of my favourite books as a teen was Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews. Partially because it's so horrifying but also because it made the point that you don't choose who to love. You just fall in love. It helped 14 year old me understand that the world is messed up, and as we humans live in this weird world, so too can our desires be explainable. It doesn't make us bad people; it's merely a complication that we have to deal with as we (ourselves) deem appropriate. We may need to follow a few laws in place for our own protection (and that of future offspring) but that doesn't mean that we are fundamentally bad people.

Writing Style
This likely would have been a higher rating had the writing style been a little smoother. At times Never-Contented Things felt disjointed. Like there were chunks of the story missing. I also felt that too much was revealed too soon. It was very obvious to me from the get-go what was happening. I'd have liked a little more mystery to the events transpiring and subtle foreshadows. Readers are smart (yes even teenagers) and can sort certain things out in their mind. In fact many readers love to have ah-ha moments that have pieces falling into place perfectly. But you can't have an ah-ha moment if you've known what's happening all along.

Overall
The idea here is not necessarily new. Fae realms and trapping humans has long been a fundamental piece of most fairy stories. What's unique here is the driver that leads our characters to decide to act the way they do. One of those pieces is the unique relationship between our two lead foster kids. It would have helped understand their co-dependent relationship had there been more back story on where they came from and how they got to the foster home where they met. I also felt like no time was given to the foster parents who (obviously) have an influence on the teens and setting rules. More early development of all our characters (before any fairies show up) would have been great.
My favourite part of all is the little nod to traditional fairy stories by making one of the most evil of them named 'Unseelie'. This is the name commonly used to describe the lower or underground or evil Fae court. It was perfect and an early tip off to just how far these crazy fairies might be willing to go.

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.
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