The House of the Scorpion (Matteo Alacran #1) by Nancy Farmer – Review
//TW: death, violence, drugs//
~Quick Statistics~
Overall: 3.5/5 Stars
Plot: 4/5 Stars
Setting: 3/5 Stars
Characters: 4/5 Stars
Writing: 3/5 Stars
Memorability: 2/5 Stars
~Quick Review~
The House of the Scorpion is a solid science fiction novel dealing with the question of humanity. It was entertaining and its characters were well written. This being said, I do not, however, have the motivation or interest in reading its sequel. While there were parts that I enjoyed, The House of the Scorpion unfortunately does not come close to being one of my favorite novels that I have read.
~Other Information~
Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Page Count: 432 pages
If you read and like The House of the Scorpion, check out its sequel The Lord of Opium.
~Book Description (via Amazon)~
Matteo Alacrán was not born; he was harvested.
His DNA came from El Patrón, lord of a country called Opium–a strip of poppy fields lying between the United States and what was once called Mexico. Matt’s first cell split and divided inside a petri dish. Then he was placed in the womb of a cow, where he continued the miraculous journey from embryo to fetus to baby. He is a boy now, but most consider him a monster–except for El Patrón. El Patrón loves Matt as he loves himself, because Matt is himself.
As Matt struggles to understand his existence, he is threatened by a sinister cast of characters, including El Patrón’s power-hungry family, and he is surrounded by a dangerous army of bodyguards. Escape is the only chance Matt has to survive. But escape from the Alacrán Estate is no guarantee of freedom, because Matt is marked by his difference in ways he doesn’t even suspect.
~Characters~
The House of the Scorpion follows the story of Matt, a young boy who has been isolated from the world for as long as he has known. Even as his world expands, Matt finds himself wondering who he is, and why he exists. Nosy, smart, and utterly confused about his place in the world and the Alacran family, Matt is set on finding out who he is. Other notable and lovable characters in this novel include Celia and Tam Lin, who take the place of Matt’s parental figures and the people he looks up to.
I personally think that while I certainly did not like most of the characters, the way that the characters are written is brilliant and directly ties in to the plot of the story.
~Writing and Setting~
I’m not going to lie, I was quite a bit bored by the writing in the novel. There was nothing exciting to me about it and I found it hard to have a picture in my mind of the events in the novel. I felt that the rest of the novel’s aspects were fairly decent but the lack of interesting description took away from that. However, there were some interesting topics discussed within the novel.
I found the setting itself interesting, as the story takes place in Opium, a country in between what once was the United States and Mexico. Opium itself is a huge mystery throughout the novel, but its secrets do become uncovered as the story progresses.
~Plot~
There were many excellent plot twists and key events that I enjoyed, and I’d have to say that the plot of The House of the Scorpion was probably my favorite aspect of the novel. The plot had an interesting way of being viewed solely through Matt’s eyes, giving us the point of view of a child who knows virtually nothing about the world versus an adult who knows much more. This allowed for some interesting choices on the author’s part that led to excellent plot twists that made the story worth reading.
~Overall Review~
Overall, The House of the Scorpion was not my favorite novel, and I most likely will not read it again nor will I pick up the sequel. I just don’t have the motivation or interest to. However, I must say that while I personally did not enjoy the book, it was a solid futuristic science fiction novel that I would recommend to readers that like their science fiction with a touch of mystery.
I’d like to thanks my followers that have stuck around during the past few months, I have been very busy recently and have found it hard to find the time to sit down and read a book. I’m pretty sure I promised on my last post (in January I believe, oops) that I would attempt to post more often (and with better quality content), however, I’m not gonna say that I didn’t try, but I definitely failed (another oops). I apologize for this, and am hopeful that as spring approaches I will have more time to read and post reviews. Thank you so much for your patience!
-Maya
Maya's Reviews 