[Informal Review] The Storyteller

*review taken from my account on Goodreads

Why is a book with 12 and 14-year old protagonists so dark? The Storyteller is the conclusion of The Riverman Trilogy, the mind-bending stories that encapsulate Aquavania and the fates of those submerged within its waters. This third book was once again told in first person, however it is coming from a new voice. Kerrigan Cleary is Alistair's older sister and has pretty much done nothing big on the previous two books. That was why my reaction when I first found that this was to be written in Keri's POV was... "Why?" As I read through, I (maybe) understood why Starmer chose to have this book told in a new view. As I have reached this far in the trilogy, I know by now that this series tells not just a single story; it provides stories within stories and how these stories interweave one another. At the same time, it tells the story of our characters, how The Rivermanwas Fiona's story told by Alistair, and how pretty much it was also Charlie's in the later parts. How we were made to believe that The Whisper would be about Fiona and Charlie, but later on it was also about Aquavania and largely, about Alistair after all. Now, we are provided by Keri's story, and how she perceives other stories through her eyes, how she sees her best friend, how she tries to have a boyfriend to know what it would feel like, how she copes with her brother that straight out changed overnight, how she deals with the frustrations her parents could bring, and how she understands the strange disappearances of children she either knows or not. This all is told through a diary she named Stella, and crumpled up in all her daily entries we get to be in the mind of an emotionally confused fourteen year-old girl. This here is written so well it is as if Starmer has become, well... a teenage girl. But Keri is more than that, she writes stories of her own. Stories she believes comes from her imaginations, and these stories (like the ones on the previous books) always make me think. Starmer, like Keri, is a great storyteller, that I'm sure. From here on, I will tell why I didn't give The Storyteller 5 Stars: 1. The style of writing is unlikely. Yes, the diary-like approach makes the dark tales funny and personal, but since this is from a diary, it can't be helped that there are some things that are better off not mentioned at all (eg. her rants about her best friend and her boyfriend). Since the final book approaches the mysteries to be solved, it would've been better if the story focused on that more. 2. This book feels detached from the previous two. Aside from the different approach on writing, this book really takes you far from our original characters (Alistair, Charlie, Fiona). It focuses instead on how Keri perceives things. And this doesn't really explain much at all. Her personal life is different from that on how her brother and Charlie and Fiona were in Aquavania. The first two books, despite being mysterious and confusing at times, followed a clear timeline and set a few goals. These goals are expected to be encountered for this final book, yet it was seen from a different angle. It's like the readers are left peeking through their windows instead of actually being at the event outside. This books was very different that I can't help but feel this could be an extra, something like a 2.5 book in the series, something that could be titled "Aquavania and Other Stories". 3. Everything is vague. This was supposed to be the conclusion, and what I expected was that I'd be diving deeper into the waters of Aquavania. But then Keri has little to nothing knowledge about Aquavania at all, and it frustrates me how I only get as little answers as her from Alistair. Most of the time, the readers could get "Alistair has become really strange but what is he really doing?" All the answers I hope to get would only come from Alistair's vague statements and strange actions. We don't fully see Alistair become the Riverman, which is something I really hoped for after I read The Whisper. We don't know what really goes on as he does his job because we can't get into his mind. Instead, we have stories of dead birds and joggers, of toy guns and aliens, of clouds and opposite days, of princesses and potions, of wombats and bush babies. All of these Starmer tries to relate to the world of Aquavania. It is done so brilliantly well that it becomes confusing at some point, I don't know if children who read this can really understand all of it. But this is what I like about Starmer also, because he does not underestimate the reader. He pushes them to think, to turn words into jigsaw puzzles and let them build a picture with the pieces he provided. And even with all these, I could barely get an answer about Alistair and his job. What we get instead is a story of Aquavania's own: how it began and, with Alistair, maybe how it will end. Starmer makes it so that Keri could have been someone with a deep connection to Aquavania, but whatever the connection is may be to astounding to be believed. 4. What of Alistair? This may have been mentioned before. But even if Alistair was there, he seemed like a second character who is off to do the most strange things yet we are deprived of that. I didn't even know what really happened. The transitions of his personality happened so abruptly and the way he says he'd solve the problems looked promising, but what happened, really? How'd he do it, really? Did he do it, really? 5. The lack of Charlie. Though Charlie is difficult, and could even be considered the antagonist, I can't help but think he is one of the best characters in this series. There's just so much in him that we didn't see coming. I wanted more of him, despite maybe Starmer meaning to end his story in the previous book. I loved Charlie, but like Alistair, I didn't get to see much of him. In fact, whatever happened to Charlie, actually? This just seemed so unfair to him because Charlie felt like a forgotten entity in this. The writing is marvelous, as usual, but as a conclusion I couldn't quite call it one. This having told by someone who hasn't done much in the previous two books makes me wish it wasn't the end yet. But then again, Keri says she'd write more stories, and how she could always leave stories with no endings. It makes me want to roll on my bed until I fall to the floor. Starmer had introduced some characters but barely had any time to elaborate them all. He resurrected old ones (like how we go back to the very beginning of The Riverman, when Alistair saw death for the first time), but they had not given me enough answers to say if they were relevant at all. I would like to read this entire trilogy again someday, maybe after I've grown smarter and when I'd understand vagueness more. I'm sure there were a lot of gems Starmer hid in this last book. Maybe I have not been thinking more to see all of them. Maybe I need to believe more to understand. Maybe I need to be an adult with a kid's heart, or a kid with the mind of an adult. This is what these books could do to you. Nevertheless, a huge clap for Starmer. He has made a wonderful series that pushes you to the edge of imagination.