Review: The Art Faculty
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 02 2, 2013
(Full Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review. I do not believe my review is in any way influenced by having received a free copy.)The Art Faculty begins with teenaged Marney having lost her family to a helicopter crash. She is the only survivor, because she decided not to go. Shortly after the opening of the novel, she is approached by a man and offered a job that will take her away from the grief. She accepts, and the next thing she knows she is on a spaceship flying to an Earth-like planet, where she will teach music to the children of that planet.The premise of the novel is pretty interesting and one I have not encountered before. We are introduced to two other planets: Krydos, where people use only the left side of their brain, are very logical, and lack emotion (and thus the creative spirit), and Stadler, where people use only the right side of their brain, they are emotional and locked into a constant war based on greed. Earth is the balance, where people have reason and emotion.Marney's class is on contemporary music and she has her students form a band. One of the first challenges she faced was in getting them to accept her as an instructor and have her instructions obeyed. The other students tell her she needs to give them classroom rules (such as no talking when the instructor is). This is a small issue, but it really helps to set the stage in how much of a challenge it is. The student's reaction to their makeover is also very well done.The story was good, but it was not as captivating or engaging as I had hoped it would be. I was never really drawn into the story and made to really care about the characters. Sunset had a lot of promise and I would have enjoyed seeing more growth from her.