Reviews

The Dark Hills Divide by Patrick Carman

msjaquiss's review against another edition

4.0

The Elyon series is a great read-aloud for young girls. Alexa is a brave, courageous, clever, and resourceful young girl. My daughter is inspired by her adventures.

alyssaarch's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

2.5

oneangrylibrarian's review

1.0

I just couldn't get the rhythm going with this book. Every time I picked it up, it was an arduous task to finish the chapter. I just didn't find any resonance with the characters or the story. This was a series I had been interested in for a long time, but it just didn't grab me.

beccasbooks234's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

I read this series as a child and decided to read it again to see if I realized anything new. I didn’t remember much of the story but I did figure out who Sebastian was a bit faster than I remember figuring it out as a kid.
I love the magic thrown into the story and isn’t it everyone’s dream to be able to talk to animals? I wish there were glowing stones that allowed me to communicate with my pets!
I can’t wait to reread the second story in the series and be reminded of my childhood. 

momtessori's review against another edition

4.0

This is a fun teacher read aloud for an upper elementary class. I wanted to read a fantasy series to my class so they could get more invested in the characters over a long period of time, and this one is detailed and fun, and we love Alexa Daley and all her animal friends.

kbearrs's review against another edition

5.0

This was one of the first books that got me into reading. I had asked one of my dearest (Amanda) friends about it and she had told it was really good. I was hooked! When I was little I always daydreamed about going on an adventure in nature, woh secret doors/tunnels, being able to talk to animals, a magical object and this book just brought my fantasy to life!!

alexistexas66's review against another edition

5.0

I thought this book was a good choice, since it was meant for someone who likes a little bit of mystery and a lot of adventure. The book was filled with beautiful imagery, so it allowed me to really dive into the book, and paint elegant pictures in my head of the stories and the characters. I look forward to reading the other books in this series.

logarithm's review against another edition

3.0

(3.5) Good middle grade but the main character really doesn't read as a twelve year old lol

littlebitofe's review against another edition

4.0

Very, very good. Loved the characters and the author's writing style. My only complaint is that it was too short and not overly detailed (as I like it). I think this is perhaps because it is for the younger reader, though. I will be looking for the other books in the series as well as other books by the author.

katemarie99's review against another edition

1.0

Kind of only picked this one up in the first place because of the "Elyon" bit and my great love for the Circle series by Ted Dekker. They don't seem to share many connections, although Elyon does seem to represent God in this story. I was slightly irked by how heavily this story borrows from Prince Caspian specifically (a chosen child, talking animals, a very small man [why not just say dwarf?], bears, squirrels that talk too much, a mysterious absent god-figure, etc etc) and really just from Narnia in general. Like I realize we've all been collectively impacted by Narnia, but there are more inventive ways to reinvent a narrative than to steal the plot, the characters, and all the tropes. No thanks.