War of the Wind - Victoria Williamson - ★★★
RATING: 3 stars.
In a Nutshell: Liked the disability representation, but have mixed feelings about the message. The label of ‘eco-thriller’ doesn’t suit the book perfectly. This is more of a teen mystery with subtle shades of psychological horror.
Content warning: animal deaths.
Story Synopsis:
Fourteen-year-old Max has been wallowing in self-pity ever since he lost his hearing in a trawler accident a couple of years ago. Struggling to adapt to his new situation in school and at home, Max is quite frustrated. The only thing he is looking forward to is the network connectivity promised by the company who is building wind turbines on the remote Scottish island Max calls home.
However, most of the islanders are protesting the turbines, which Max finds unfathomable. Why say no to free Internet? However, he soon notices a change in the behaviour of those around him. Do the turbines have anything to do with this?
The story comes to us from Max’s limited first person perspective.
PSA: The blurb reveals too much.
I’ve read quite a few books by this author, and she targets different age groups and different genres with each story. I like that she isn’t afraid to go dark, and pens her books according to the audience she has in mind. However, this book is my least favourite of what I have read from her oeuvre.
The biggest pro of the book has to be the way it handles disability representation. Max has a lot of anger and frustration in him. His pity party never ends, thus making his struggle to accept his new situation come across as very realistic. His constant comparison of his life before and after hearing loss helps us realise how much we take our senses for granted. There are some offensive words in his thinking, but the author helps readers understand what is not acceptable in inclusive language.
Unlike most books with the main protagonist having some kind of disability, Max isn’t a likeable lead character as he wasn’t really a ‘good boy’ when his hearing was intact. The struggle of being on the OTHER side of bullying is something he cannot attune himself to. This internal conflict makes for much thought-provoking writing, and will hopefully make little readers understand that life can change for anyone, anytime. Bullying is never right.
Other than Max, we also have Erin – who was born deaf, Beanie – who has Down Syndrome, and David – who is restricted to his wheelchair because of cerebral palsy. There is also a revelation at the end about one prominent character having a learning disability. Through these characters, the story explores varied facets of living life as a disabled person and helps generate not sympathy but empathy towards them. Because of Max and Erin’s deafness coming from different reasons, we also see the difference between those born with a disability and those who become disabled at a later stage in their lives. This is all handled sensitively. I also loved all the aspects related to sign language and how it works. There’s even a picture of the British sign language alphabet at the start of the book. As the book has been whetted for language and deafness portrayal by the British Deaf Association, we can be sure that the deaf rep is authentic.
At the same time, I wasn’t happy when David was revealed to be a secret genius. It is a cliché probably inspired from Stephen Hawking, but not everyone who has cerebral palsy is a genius, and a character with cerebral palsy must be accepted even if he is on the opposite end of the genius spectrum.
I also don’t agree with the label of ‘eco-thriller’. There is a mystery in the book, but the slowburn pace and the writing style don’t make it a thriller. Some of the content is disturbing enough to qualify it as a mild psychological horror. The story is divided into sections, with the key chapters being titled around the arrival of the turbines. i.e. 'Two Years Before the Turbines', ‘One Month After the Turbines’,… This makes it clear that the turbines are at the core of the story. However, the sections are titled as “Experiment – Phase 1/2/…”, thus revealing a huge spoiler even before the readers know that there’s an experiment. What’s the point of the book’s being a “mystery” or a ”thriller” then? This naming decision should have been reconsidered.
The ‘eco’ tag also is not justified because though turbines are at the core of the book, their depiction is lopsided. My biggest worry is that children shouldn’t come away with the idea that wind turbines are destructive. With the planet needing more sustainable clean energy models, wind turbines are definitely to be encouraged. However, once the conspiracy in the book is sorted out, there is just a single line to establish that turbines are innocent. All the adults seem to be protesting the turbines because of relatively trivial points and ignoring everything connected to energy generation. Those who want the turbines do so only for the free internet and connectivity promised by the company. Turbines are so much more than this! This was a great chance to educate children (without getting preachy) on clean energy, but it was missed out. A couple of the negatives mentioned in the book about the ill effects of turbines on human health are claims based in reality, but there’s no conclusive proof yet. I wish there had been a stronger focus on the advantages of turbines. The balance is very much missing in this book.
The ending is worth it in terms of resolution, but the final confrontation is a bit of a downer in terms of how quickly it is completed.
This book is aimed at teens aged 11-15, so it covers the upper MG – lower YA group. Some of the content, however, might be a bit too dark for the lower of this age segment. The animal deaths, in particular, might be disturbing. Proceed with caution in case you plan to read this with or gift this to a sensitive animal-loving child.
All in all, this is a good story, but not exactly as I expected. It had tremendous potential, but in not addressing turbines in a balanced way, it ended up disappointing me a bit. I can’t enthusiastically advocate a book that casts doubts on an important renewable energy resource. Nevertheless, the depiction of deaf characters is a huge point in its favour.
20% of the author royalties for this novel will be donated to the British Deaf Association.
My thanks to TheWriteReads, Neem Tree Press, author Victoria Williamson, and NetGalley for a complimentary copy of 'War of the Wind' and for allowing me to be a part of this blog tour. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.
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Blurb:
An adventurous eco-thriller from award-winning children’s author Victoria Williamson.
On a remote Scottish island, fourteen-year-old Max’s life changes forever when he loses his hearing in a boating accident. Struggling to make sense of his new life and finding it hard to adapt in school, he begins to notice other — even stranger — changes taking place when a new wind farm appears off the island’s coast.
With the help of three school friends with additional support needs, Max discovers that a sinister scientist, Doctor Ashwood, is using wind turbines to experiment on the islanders. They must find a way to shut down the government’s secret test before it spins out of control…
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Author Victoria Williamson:
Victoria Williamson is an award-winning author who grew up in Scotland surrounded by hills, books, and an historical farm estate which inspired many of her early adventure stories and spooky tales. After studying Physics at the University of Glasgow, she set out on her own real-life adventures, which included teaching maths and science in Cameroon, training teachers in Malawi, teaching English in China and working with children with additional support needs in the UK. Victoria currently works part time writing KS2 books for the education company Twinkl and spends the rest of her time writing novels, and visiting schools, libraries and literary festivals to give author talks and run creative writing workshops.
Victoria’s previous novels include The Fox Girl and the White Gazelle, The Boy with the Butterfly Mind, Hag Storm, and War of the Wind. She has won the Bolton Children’s Fiction Award 2020/2021, The YA-aldi Glasgow Secondary School Libraries Book Award 2023, and has been shortlisted for the Week Junior Book Awards 2023, The Leeds Book Awards 2023, the Red Book Award 2023, the James Reckitt Hull Book Awards 2021, The Trinity School Book Awards 2021, and longlisted for the ABA South Coast Book Awards 2023, the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize 2020, and the Branford Boase Award 2019.
You can find out more about Victoria’s books, school visits and free resources for schools on her website.
Connect with her on:
Website: www.strangelymagical.com
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This has been a stop on the #WarOfTheWind blog tour conducted by TheWriteReads (@The_WriteReads). Thanks for stopping by!
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