Book Review: Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Search part 1

Book: Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Search part 1 by Gene Luen Yang with illustrations by Gurihiru

Rating: 2 stars

Review:

This was not a good read. It was poorly written almost to the point where I was starting to wonder if the plot was even really thought out. Most of the characters seemed to have lost all of the development they gained from the animated series and The Promise story. 

In The Search part one, Zuko still trying to find his mother made a deal with his sister Azula. He wanted to see if she could get information from their father Ozai about where they're mother Ursa could have gone after she was banished. The story also featured flashbacks of Ursa, her arraigned marriage to Ozai and a moment that hinted at a secret she had been hiding.

Now that they have a clue to where Ursa may be, Zuko and as part of the deal plans to bring Azula along with him to find their mother. Going with them is Avatar Aang, Katara, Sokka, Appa and Momo. The teams first destination is Hira' a, which is the small town in the Fire Nation where their mother grew up.

Azula still unstable caused plenty of problems during the travel even more so once she leapt from Appa causing the gang to have to go after her. While trying to stop Azula the group ended up getting into a fight with a giant wolf spirit but Azula was the only one to be able to get rid of it.

While Zuko was guarding the group as they slept through the night, he noticed a piece of paper hidden in Azula's boot and found out a devastating secret.

As much as the Avatar: TLA and The Legend of Korra series had been touting the "What ever happened to Zuko's mother?" question. I would have thought the first part of The Search would have been more interesting. This was a total let down.

It was slow moving and the story was too focused on trying to build up this clichéd secret Fire Lord Zuko's mother Ursa had been hiding. The secret that completely overshadowed this story, whether it is or isn't proven to be true, feels as if it was written in just to add some unnecessary drama. The secret if it's true, pretty much ruins Zuko's entire character development in the animated series.

With the way the first part of this story was written it may have been better to have let the mystery of Zuko's mother stayed a mystery. Hopefully, the second part will make up for this one and be a better read.