Review Detail

Solid was a mindlessly entertaining read, with a witty and sarcastic narrator who kept things on the lighter side with her constant banter. Even though I had several issues with Solid, I really enjoyed the ride of this plot-driven tale!

Clio is a likeable protagonist. She's confident and smart, but filled with enough insecurities about meeting new people and making new friends to still be realistic. She was quick to make judgments about people, but she also managed to be mostly right.

"Thinking about how much I liked Bliss also made me feel a little bit bad for Miranda, who did seem to be trying in her own way. Just because her nice kitty was more like anybody else's rabid jaguar didn't make her a bad person - she just kept her good side pushed way, way down deep."

"She really was starting to grow on me - in a fungal kind of way, but not poisonous, at least."

She neither amazed me, nor made me despise her - like I said, she was likeable. I did enjoy the relationship she seemed to share with her mom, even though we only got glimpses of it, and that she seemed to have a genuine conscious; she worried about mistreating/dismissing people without really getting to know them.

Her relationship with Jack was sweet, but undeveloped. His romantic gesture was adorable, but there was no real build up so I was without passion about their relationship - it really didn't bother me one way or the other, whether or not they became more then friends. I did get a chuckle about Clio's reaction to the apparent lack of books in his room (deal breaker?),

"Not junk, but books at least," I clarified. "I mean everybody reads." I left off, Everybody interesting, anyway, in case for some bizarre reason he had something against books."

and I enjoyed the few moments they shared together. But Solid is really too short for a whole lot of development, especially in the romance department. So when Clio made this comment,

"He put his hand on my knee as he finished, the warmth of his hand flooding my entire body with reassurance - an intense reaction to someone I'd known only a week, but could now see I'd needed my whole life."

I found it a little difficult to stop myself from rolling my eyes.

Clio's interactions with her group of friends were genuine, even though I found most of the secondary characters to be undeveloped and unmemorable. I didn't fully understand their group dynamic, since it seemed like at least two of their members didn't quite fit in, but despite their differences, Workinger made them work well together. I did wish we had gotten to see more of their powers though, especially after a couple quick peaks during their reconnaissance mission that hinted at their true abilities.

The plot was paced well; if anything, it moved too quickly! There was a lot of information thrown around, which at first, was done well. Most things were leaked out in inconspicuous ways, letting me immerse myself into the story. As the plot progressed and we neared the ending however, the evil villans became stereotypically unintelligent in their big reveal.

"It felt like a full-on Scooby Doo moment, where I should've seen it coming, but was instead cartoonishly shocked by the reveal."

Rather than take care of Clio and her friends, the villans decided there was time to lay out their entire dubious plan and to answer each of Clio's friends' questions. This of course granted the time required for help to arrive to foil their master plan! Silly villans; something they had worked on for years foiled in a matter of minutes because they couldn't help gloating!

Not without it's cheese, Solid is a solidly entertaining read. Sure, it has problems, but the relatively likeable, if forgettable, characters weren't hard to read about and the plot has some definite potential. And considering it only took me one sitting, I would definitely recommend Solid to anyone looking for a fun, fast read!