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katdfleming's review against another edition
5.0
A wonderful adventurous book! I would love to ride the Boundless!
protoman21's review against another edition
4.0
The Boundless is another entertaining adventure from Kenneth Oppel. He has a grasp on action scenes in Teen or younger books like nobody else writing today and I wish more people would try his books out. While this fell a little short of the Matt Cruse series, it had much the same appeal but with its own charm. The story moves along as fast as The Boundless itself!
rjdenney's review against another edition
1.0
1 STAR!
I really, really wanted to enjoy this book. It had trains, which I love, it took place in an alternate Victorian era, and it was an adventure. But alas I could not get past two very big things, the first it being so incredibly boring and slow. It took at least 200 pages to get going and it takes place on a train which you'd think would go by even quicker, but no. There's also a hint of romance in this which I wasn't for, you all know how I feel about MG books with romance in them. I don't like it. This could've been a favorite of mine, and that cover!! it's gorgeous but it just didn't work out for me. NOW! let's get to the second and most important to me, the usage of Blackface/Brownface as a disguise. I won't spoil it too much but Blackface/Brownface is used on the main character in this book and how the author didn't see that that was a gigantic no-no is beyond me. And what bothers me even more is that other reviews on Goodreads haven't mentioned this.
Lately I've been seeing a discussion going around on Twitter about authors who write historical fiction disregarding diversity because of the time period they write in and I think it's a load of bull. It's historical FICTION for a reason, you can do whatever you want with it. So using the time periods as an excuse needs to stop. And I feel like that is the argument that would be used in this book's case. But as I said above, this takes place in an alternate Victorian era, again ALTERNATE so this is the author's own creation of the Victorian era we are reading and maybe the usage of Blackface/Brownface was unintentional, but still, it doesn't mean it isn't WRONG.
All in all I'd say to pass on this. Something I would recommend better than this is The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick. Now that is a Historical Fiction Middle-Grade book done right with lots of adventure and an amazing young protagonist. - Richard
I really, really wanted to enjoy this book. It had trains, which I love, it took place in an alternate Victorian era, and it was an adventure. But alas I could not get past two very big things, the first it being so incredibly boring and slow. It took at least 200 pages to get going and it takes place on a train which you'd think would go by even quicker, but no. There's also a hint of romance in this which I wasn't for, you all know how I feel about MG books with romance in them. I don't like it. This could've been a favorite of mine, and that cover!! it's gorgeous but it just didn't work out for me. NOW! let's get to the second and most important to me, the usage of Blackface/Brownface as a disguise. I won't spoil it too much but Blackface/Brownface is used on the main character in this book and how the author didn't see that that was a gigantic no-no is beyond me. And what bothers me even more is that other reviews on Goodreads haven't mentioned this.
Lately I've been seeing a discussion going around on Twitter about authors who write historical fiction disregarding diversity because of the time period they write in and I think it's a load of bull. It's historical FICTION for a reason, you can do whatever you want with it. So using the time periods as an excuse needs to stop. And I feel like that is the argument that would be used in this book's case. But as I said above, this takes place in an alternate Victorian era, again ALTERNATE so this is the author's own creation of the Victorian era we are reading and maybe the usage of Blackface/Brownface was unintentional, but still, it doesn't mean it isn't WRONG.
All in all I'd say to pass on this. Something I would recommend better than this is The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick. Now that is a Historical Fiction Middle-Grade book done right with lots of adventure and an amazing young protagonist. - Richard
nic_fish's review against another edition
4.0
full of action. enjoyed the historic value after a grade school assignment on the last spike.
melissa_reads_books's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
5.0
jessethereader's review against another edition
4.0
Here's a video with my thoughts on The Boundless: http://youtu.be/6nuH8l8MRkE
ashley_choo's review against another edition
5.0
Freaking LOVED this book. The sasquatches and the HAG are going to haunt me for a long time.
sharlappalachia's review against another edition
4.0
Meh. 3.5/5. Is Boundless a children's book? Young adult? I don't know! And neither does The Boundless. It has the feel of a children's with the dialogue (and swearing) of a young adult's.
Kind of disappointed. Airborn is one of my favorite series of all time and Boundless is just kind of lacking the charm that made me fall in love with Matt and Kate. I also didn't care for the present tense and third person narrator, and I had trouble understanding Will and Maren's relationship because Maren has very little characterization, even though she's one of the main characters. Brogan was a bit two-dimensional until you understand his backstory. However, I loved when Boundless started to pick up and it reminded me a lot of Airborn...but not quite. Mr. Dorian was a very interesting character and I'm glad that he was incorporated the way he was: not quite a villain, not quite an ally.
But for what it is (not quite a kid's book, not quite young adult/kind of in the same spectrum as Harry Potter), Boundless doesn't disappoint. Adventure and magic and a circus! Who wouldn't like that? It's fast-paced and the writing was good, but not as good as Kenneth Oppel's superior adventure novel, Airborn.
Kind of disappointed. Airborn is one of my favorite series of all time and Boundless is just kind of lacking the charm that made me fall in love with Matt and Kate. I also didn't care for the present tense and third person narrator, and I had trouble understanding Will and Maren's relationship because Maren has very little characterization, even though she's one of the main characters. Brogan was a bit two-dimensional until you understand his backstory. However, I loved when Boundless started to pick up and it reminded me a lot of Airborn...but not quite. Mr. Dorian was a very interesting character and I'm glad that he was incorporated the way he was: not quite a villain, not quite an ally.
But for what it is (not quite a kid's book, not quite young adult/kind of in the same spectrum as Harry Potter), Boundless doesn't disappoint. Adventure and magic and a circus! Who wouldn't like that? It's fast-paced and the writing was good, but not as good as Kenneth Oppel's superior adventure novel, Airborn.
aoosterwyk's review against another edition
3.0
There is something magical about Kenneth Oppel books. For some reason they stick in your mind and you find yourself back in the book. I also love his pairings of cool girls with "getting a clue" boys. They are so sympathetic.
Oppel takes us on a steampunk trip through Canada on an immense train which passes through the untamed wilderness, encountering creatures of myth and Native Americans hunting bison.
A circus on board and a class structure reminiscent of the Titanic adds interest and suspense.
A proposed high speed train connecting China to Canada adds relevance.
Oppel takes us on a steampunk trip through Canada on an immense train which passes through the untamed wilderness, encountering creatures of myth and Native Americans hunting bison.
A circus on board and a class structure reminiscent of the Titanic adds interest and suspense.
A proposed high speed train connecting China to Canada adds relevance.
retiredlibrarylady's review against another edition
3.0
It takes a while to figure out when this is set and where. The genre is a bit hard to define as well, since there are elements of fantasy, historical fiction, adventure, and mystery. Oppel imagines an amazing train, miles long, with a complete city on-board. Four classes, plus a circus, are separately housed in very different situations. Our protagonist witnesses a murder and then has to hide on this train from a determined murderer and his associates. Excitement builds to a satisfying conclusion. The "good" characters are much better developed than the bad, and it's interesting that a Sasquatch emerges as a character.