Book Review and Point of View!

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I just read an awesome book called The Girl Who Could Fly by Victoria Forester (2008). In it, Piper can fly and that causes problems. So she's sent to a top secret school where they promise to fix her. But Piper soon finds out that being fixed is worse than dealing with the problems she caused at home.

 

I highly recommend this book not only for its story but for the way the author skillfully changes the pov from one character to another.

 

Now let me explain. The entire book is written in omniscient third person point of view. This means that we are following one character during some of the story and another character at other times.

 

Point of view is one of the hardest parts of a writer's craft to perfect. Some authors spend entire chapters telling one character's pov, while others put a space or # to indicate a change. What makes Victoria's work so beautiful is that we can follow her when she switches to a different character without the usual signals.

 

Instead of being flagged with a chapter heading or number sign, the reader is able to follow the pov changes because each character has a unique voice and agenda. The effect is not flawless. There was a couple of times that I wasn't sure which character was talking because we were still in someone else's head. However it was the best example of subtle character pov changes that I have ever read.

 

So how did she do it? Read the book and see for yourself!