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Always the Same
It had been a year since the dust began to fall from the sky and created chaos. Lori and her brother Dylan, separated from the rest of their family, struggle to survive and to find a school that will take Lori. But the dust has revealed people's underlying prejudice and it seems there's no place for a girl in a wheelchair.
31 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 8, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 12, 2020
A meteor shower (my interpretation) has caused havoc on Earth, damaging buildings and separating families. Dylan and his wheel-chair bound sister Lori are trying to make it on their own and are looking for a school that will take Lori. Then Lori sees a message in some graffiti and the siblings decide to follow the graffiti-messages out of the city.
The story unfolds in two halves. The first half covers the siblings’ travels north to a new city. The second half focuses on their assimilation into the city, including a school for Lori. They discover that not everything is the same after all.
For a short story, I thought this narrative tried to cover too much territory and therefore, didn’t have time to connect me to the characters. The dystopian setting wasn’t particularly challenging to either sibling and seemed somewhat unnecessary as a backdrop to the strong themes of accessibility of education to disabled students, discrimination, and the need for innovative schools. I think there’s a shorter story here or a longer deeper one.
The story unfolds in two halves. The first half covers the siblings’ travels north to a new city. The second half focuses on their assimilation into the city, including a school for Lori. They discover that not everything is the same after all.
For a short story, I thought this narrative tried to cover too much territory and therefore, didn’t have time to connect me to the characters. The dystopian setting wasn’t particularly challenging to either sibling and seemed somewhat unnecessary as a backdrop to the strong themes of accessibility of education to disabled students, discrimination, and the need for innovative schools. I think there’s a shorter story here or a longer deeper one.
July 20, 2020
Actual rating 3.5
While benefiting from decent prose and characters Always the Same lacks the proper conflict to make it interesting. Dylan and Lori travel through a semi post-apocalyptic world but confront no significant challenge or conundrum that requires a decision or action. That is not to say the story lacks narrative; the initial half of the story is almost one of mystery as the siblings follow a trail toward a mysterious destination and brush against potential perils, and the second part is more exploration and learning to adapt to what they find.
As character Dylan and Lori are decent but largely unexplored and unchallenged and we never really delve below surface-level details.
While benefiting from decent prose and characters Always the Same lacks the proper conflict to make it interesting. Dylan and Lori travel through a semi post-apocalyptic world but confront no significant challenge or conundrum that requires a decision or action. That is not to say the story lacks narrative; the initial half of the story is almost one of mystery as the siblings follow a trail toward a mysterious destination and brush against potential perils, and the second part is more exploration and learning to adapt to what they find.
As character Dylan and Lori are decent but largely unexplored and unchallenged and we never really delve below surface-level details.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews