Reviews

Corazón de tinta by Cornelia Funke

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noorsarchive's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

pinksreads's review against another edition

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3.0

People tell me it's a YA fantasy but no, it's a middle grade fantasy. Period.

I liked this book to the extent that I would be reading the rest of the series. This book has enough good bits to convince me to continue. I loved the premise, very creative and wonderful. Also, this is the first time I've read a book mender as one of the protagonists. Pretty interesting.

The pacing of the story was good enough for middle grade, although it did drag quite a bit. I feel like the story would have remained unaltered if some parts were cut down.

Spoiler

If someone can tell me why Fenoglio went into the book when Meggie read it out loud in the end, that would be swell. Because I did not understand how that was relevant. Did he go in because he aided all of Capricorn's crimes in lieu of creating him? Was that all? What happened to his grandchildren after everything was settled? I'm assuming all this will be addressed in the series, but I don't see how.

The lack of worldbuilding was astonishing, honestly. So many things were left unexplained in a 563 page book. Yes, it is targeted towards children, so it cannot be very information dense. But, basic things are left for readers to interpret. Is the talent to read characters out of a book hereditary? Can it be learned? If you read a character out of a book, does the story change for all copies of the book, or just the one from which you read? Who knows.

Spoiler

For example, when Capricorn 'dropped dead', was his body just there? Was he buried? Or did he disappear too? I will never find out, I guess.

Hopefully, Inkspell and Inkdeath will have answers.

I would recommend reading onward, because I want to know what else the world has to offer, from the eyes of a new character revealed at the end.

lizzieg22's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

larade's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes

4.75

catbrigand's review against another edition

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5.0

I would love to see this get a new translation (or for me to master German) because sometimes the writing is a little stilted, and I don’t know if this is because of the translation or a quirk of the original writing. But this is what children’s literature should be.

mimsey's review against another edition

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4.0

Review to come
Notes:
Audio version well done but not recommended (unless no other option) because of the focus on the physical properties of a book. Read as a teen, Eleanor's tragedy traumatizing, still nearly brought me to tears. What does it say about me that a fictional human death can be shrugged off but a fictional "book death" is beyond tragic?