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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
3/5
"We thought of Persephone for a while in silence. I imagined her struggling her way toward us. She squeezed through black tunnels. She took wrong turnings, banged her head against the rocks. Sometimes she gave up in despair and she just lay weeping in the pitch darkness. But she struggled on. She waded through icy underground streams. She fought through bedrock and clay and iron ore and coal, through fossils of ancient creatures, the skeletons of dinosaurs, the buried remains of ancient cities. She burrowed past the tangled roots of great trees. She was torn and bleeding but she kept telling herself to move onward and upward. She told herself that soon she'd see the light of the sun again and feel the warmth of the world again."
I decided to buy this book when I saw it in a charity shop about a year ago and remembered it vaguely from studying it in English in primary school. It's probably the first time I've properly read a kids book since I was a child so reviewing this is kind of difficult.
Overall, I thought it was a nice story. Sweet and empathetic and hopeful, helpful for kids to read who may be scared or unsure of their feelings towards something scary, especially to do with health of a family member. But it didn't blow me away. It was just nice. I will say that I loved Mina's character, she was probably the best part for me, her and the parts about the baby. Skellig himself was a bit 'meh' to me as a character. I didn't walk away from the book feeling much towards him at all. The Persephone quote from above was my favourite part of the book and really stuck with me...
All that being said, a nice enough book but nothing to shout about.
"We thought of Persephone for a while in silence. I imagined her struggling her way toward us. She squeezed through black tunnels. She took wrong turnings, banged her head against the rocks. Sometimes she gave up in despair and she just lay weeping in the pitch darkness. But she struggled on. She waded through icy underground streams. She fought through bedrock and clay and iron ore and coal, through fossils of ancient creatures, the skeletons of dinosaurs, the buried remains of ancient cities. She burrowed past the tangled roots of great trees. She was torn and bleeding but she kept telling herself to move onward and upward. She told herself that soon she'd see the light of the sun again and feel the warmth of the world again."
I decided to buy this book when I saw it in a charity shop about a year ago and remembered it vaguely from studying it in English in primary school. It's probably the first time I've properly read a kids book since I was a child so reviewing this is kind of difficult.
Overall, I thought it was a nice story. Sweet and empathetic and hopeful, helpful for kids to read who may be scared or unsure of their feelings towards something scary, especially to do with health of a family member. But it didn't blow me away. It was just nice. I will say that I loved Mina's character, she was probably the best part for me, her and the parts about the baby. Skellig himself was a bit 'meh' to me as a character. I didn't walk away from the book feeling much towards him at all. The Persephone quote from above was my favourite part of the book and really stuck with me...
All that being said, a nice enough book but nothing to shout about.
This was not what I expected. Great artwork and a lovely story.
dark
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I'd read part of this when I was younger, but I couldn't remember anything about it. So reading it as an adult was absolutely wonderful. It's eerie, mystical, weird--all of the things that I want in a story. Skellig was unlike anything I remembered or thought it would be, and I absolutely loved it.
Between the struggle that Michael has with his new home life and wondering whether his little sister will be okay and learning more about his new friend Mina, Skellig is easily one of the most interesting books that I've read this year, and is perfect for fans of The Nest by Kenneth Oppel--which is just as weird.
David Almond is overall just a fantastic writer who knows his craft. He knows how to hook us into his stories and knows how to keep us there. If you remember this book from childhood, I definitely suggest reading it again. You will not be disappointed.
Review cross-listed here!
Between the struggle that Michael has with his new home life and wondering whether his little sister will be okay and learning more about his new friend Mina, Skellig is easily one of the most interesting books that I've read this year, and is perfect for fans of The Nest by Kenneth Oppel--which is just as weird.
David Almond is overall just a fantastic writer who knows his craft. He knows how to hook us into his stories and knows how to keep us there. If you remember this book from childhood, I definitely suggest reading it again. You will not be disappointed.
Review cross-listed here!
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Lovely
'Our heads were dark, then they were as huge and moonlit as the night.'!
Skellig, what a magical book. Strangely enough, David Almond, the writer, explained that he didn't really see himself as a magical realism author. But if we look at Skellig, it's as if he was creating magic without necessarily realising- it just wrote itself in.
I read this book about 8 years ago in school (which is ironic as a lot of the book is about not going to school), but decided to pick it up again to see if I would appreciate the story more as an adult reader. And I really did. I appreciated its beautiful simple lyrical prose, the atmosphere and the message of hope that runs throughout the whole book.
Skellig is told through the viewpoint of a young boy, Michael, who has moved to a new house. He has a baby sister who is ill in hospital (and may not survive) and is left to his own devices at home with his dad who is trying to do the new house up. On exploring the dilapidated garage, he stumbles across what he thinks to be an old, dying man. He and his new friend, Mina, want to help the frail man get out the garage before it is too late and it crumbles down on him.
I think the main thing that stood out to me after finishing this book was how much there was in it, how complex it was- yet how simple and almost calm it felt on the surface. Like running your hand across the surface of a still ocean and finding your fingers brushing the textured and glittering bodies of a dozen colourful fish.
This mysterious, magical book delicately covers so many looked-over subjects and really leaves a lot open to interpretation. Through Mina, an intelligent yet still a little naive, girl, David explores the themes of extroadinary in the ordinary, the power of listening, the importance of an open mind, the differences between people, and the hope, unconditional care and courage that young people have within themselves.
We also find a lot of William Blakes poetry in the book...
'Love is the child that breathes our breath/ Love is the child that scatters death'
Overall, as many previous reviews have decided, this book is wonderful for both children and adults alike. It reminds adults to look at the simple things and life and to see the beauty and depth to things, and it excites children with its dreamy and magical chapters. Yet the questions left on everyone's tongue is:
'Who and what is Skellig?'
We'll never know. But life is full of mysteries. And it is mystery that grows the imagination.
The next book in the series that David Almond wrote about 10 years later, is called My Name is Mina and is written in a journal form by Mina herself. This will be on my reading list.
I spent the last third of this book with tears in my eyes. It was beautiful.
Michael is having a hard time adjusting to the broken-down house his family just moved into, and worrying about his baby sister, still unnamed, who is constantly on the brink of death. While exploring the dilapidated garage, he finds a very thin, mysterious man crippled by arthritis. With the help of his home-schooled, Blake-spouting friend Mina, Michael seeks to find out who and what this man is, and prays for the recovery of his tiny sister.
Awards: Carnegie Medal, Whitbread Children’s Book of the Year Award, Michael L. Printz Honor Book, ALA Notable Children’s Book
Awards: Carnegie Medal, Whitbread Children’s Book of the Year Award, Michael L. Printz Honor Book, ALA Notable Children’s Book
I read this in school and I loved every second of this book. I cannot stress this enough that this book has my heart. I've read this countless of times and it never bores me.
adventurous
emotional
relaxing
sad
medium-paced