White Darkness

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White Darkness

By Geraldine McCaughrean

I had high hopes for this book, but it wasn't as adventurous and exciting as I expected it to be.  The story is about a girl whose uncle has fostered a semi-obsession with the Antarctic and to an explorer who died there, Captain Oates.  (I have to say, had I known he was a real person and understood a little bit more about his expedition before reading this book it might have changed my viewpoint on the book a tiny bit.)  At the beginning of the book, her uncle sneakily unofficially kidnaps her and takes her on their own Antarctic trip.  I liked the main character but I thought there could have been more development of the uncle.  He is a twisted and obsessed man but it almost makes it seems like he's harmless and innocent.  I feel like maybe there could have been a prologue that introduces him as the psychopath that he is.  That seemed to be a little too downplayed.  I did think the plot was pretty interesting but there wasn't enough intensity in the writing for me.  

Honestly, I almost gave up on this book, but I so wanted to know what happened to the main character that I forced myself to finish it.  In a way, it reminded me of The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing.  That book drove me crazy and I had to force myself to finish it, too.  Both books had historical elements in it that would have been good to know about ahead of time instead of at the end when the author explains the real elements.  I guess it's a lesson in reading the back of the book and reading a few online reviews before reading a book.