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njreadsandwrites's review against another edition
4.0
I will admit, I'm usually not a huge fan of middle grade, but I actually enjoyed this book. I bought it before I knew it was middle grade, but I'm glad I finally listened to the audiobook.
It is a fun and beautifully-written novel. I think young readers will thoroughly enjoy reading about Alice and Oliver. Their love/hate friendship is so cute, and I must admit they grew a lot throughout the plot of the book. The journey to find Alice's father was a thriller-filled experience, and with every turn, you learn more and more about Alice and Oliver.
As usual, Tahereh's writing had me in awe, tears, and cheering throughout the story. Her way to poetically make you see everything so visually is what I always admire in writing. It is not a easily accomplished task, but she hits the mark every time.
Still an autobuy author for me.
It is a fun and beautifully-written novel. I think young readers will thoroughly enjoy reading about Alice and Oliver. Their love/hate friendship is so cute, and I must admit they grew a lot throughout the plot of the book. The journey to find Alice's father was a thriller-filled experience, and with every turn, you learn more and more about Alice and Oliver.
As usual, Tahereh's writing had me in awe, tears, and cheering throughout the story. Her way to poetically make you see everything so visually is what I always admire in writing. It is not a easily accomplished task, but she hits the mark every time.
Still an autobuy author for me.
nicolemhewitt's review against another edition
5.0
This review and many more can be found on my blog: Feed Your Fiction Addiction
This is an ADORABLE middle grade read, filled with colorful descriptions of magical happenings and set in the topsy-turvy, sometimes baffling world of Furthermore.
What Fed My Addiction:
Furthermore.
If you read the blurb of this book, you will know exactly what to expect. Not only does it do a fantastic job of describing the plot, it sets the tone for the book. Just reading the description of Furthermore makes me smile – and I was grinning pretty much the entire time as I read about Alice’s journey through the peculiar land. It is just as odd as it sounds in the blurb – and that’s what makes it wonderful! I never knew what to expect next. Neither did Alice. I loved that the journey through Furthermore was dangerous and thrilling, but the book is still perfectly suitable for a middle grade audience because of the light, whimsical tone.
High stakes.
The story in this book is similar to Alice in Wonderland in that so many strange and wonderful things happen to Alice (hmmm … I just now realized the name thing … I wonder if that was intentional) and she’s thrown into a confusing world with so many unknown rules. Breaking those rules can often have life-altering (or life ending!) results. Alice and Oliver have to keep their wits about them and sometimes rely on pure luck. The stakes are doubly high for Alice, who desperately wants to find her father before it’s too late – and it becomes more and more apparent as the book goes on that her father is in grave danger in this impossibly crazy world!
Alice.
I loved Alice’s tenacious drive to get to her father at all costs and her endless optimism, even when things are difficult. Her journey is poignant because she discovers so much about herself along the way. Alice is used to thinking of herself as ugly and unwanted – a colorless girl in a world that values color (which represents magic) above all else. She has only ever felt loved by her father – but that’s probably at least partially because she has trouble loving herself. Alice’s personal journey is just as compelling as her travels through Furthermore.
What Left Me Hungry for More:
Rushed ending.
This is actually a pretty big negative, and I struggled with my rating because of it. After nearly 400 pages of whimsical adventure and danger, the book is wrapped up in about ten pages. Even my 12-year-old daughter mentioned that she felt the ending came out of nowhere – you didn’t even realize that Alice was near her goal, and suddenly everything was over, fixed almost instantly with very little fanfare. It was really quite jarring and more than a little disappointing.
As I mentioned, this book was very difficult for me to rate because I felt so disappointed in the ending. Still, I ended up deciding that the journey was worth it. The fact that my daughter instantly asked me after she was finished reading if there would be another one was another big bonus for me – she wasn’t ready for the journey through Furthermore to end! (I couldn’t find any reference to another book, by the way, but Mafi definitely left things open for a future foray into this world – while still wrapping up the current story.) In the end, I decided that I was so enchanted with most of the book that I would only take off a half star for the ending, and I settled on 4.5/5 Stars.
***Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher via BEA16 in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was given and all opinions are my own.***
This is an ADORABLE middle grade read, filled with colorful descriptions of magical happenings and set in the topsy-turvy, sometimes baffling world of Furthermore.
What Fed My Addiction:
Furthermore.
If you read the blurb of this book, you will know exactly what to expect. Not only does it do a fantastic job of describing the plot, it sets the tone for the book. Just reading the description of Furthermore makes me smile – and I was grinning pretty much the entire time as I read about Alice’s journey through the peculiar land. It is just as odd as it sounds in the blurb – and that’s what makes it wonderful! I never knew what to expect next. Neither did Alice. I loved that the journey through Furthermore was dangerous and thrilling, but the book is still perfectly suitable for a middle grade audience because of the light, whimsical tone.
High stakes.
The story in this book is similar to Alice in Wonderland in that so many strange and wonderful things happen to Alice (hmmm … I just now realized the name thing … I wonder if that was intentional) and she’s thrown into a confusing world with so many unknown rules. Breaking those rules can often have life-altering (or life ending!) results. Alice and Oliver have to keep their wits about them and sometimes rely on pure luck. The stakes are doubly high for Alice, who desperately wants to find her father before it’s too late – and it becomes more and more apparent as the book goes on that her father is in grave danger in this impossibly crazy world!
Alice.
I loved Alice’s tenacious drive to get to her father at all costs and her endless optimism, even when things are difficult. Her journey is poignant because she discovers so much about herself along the way. Alice is used to thinking of herself as ugly and unwanted – a colorless girl in a world that values color (which represents magic) above all else. She has only ever felt loved by her father – but that’s probably at least partially because she has trouble loving herself. Alice’s personal journey is just as compelling as her travels through Furthermore.
What Left Me Hungry for More:
Rushed ending.
This is actually a pretty big negative, and I struggled with my rating because of it. After nearly 400 pages of whimsical adventure and danger, the book is wrapped up in about ten pages. Even my 12-year-old daughter mentioned that she felt the ending came out of nowhere – you didn’t even realize that Alice was near her goal, and suddenly everything was over, fixed almost instantly with very little fanfare. It was really quite jarring and more than a little disappointing.
As I mentioned, this book was very difficult for me to rate because I felt so disappointed in the ending. Still, I ended up deciding that the journey was worth it. The fact that my daughter instantly asked me after she was finished reading if there would be another one was another big bonus for me – she wasn’t ready for the journey through Furthermore to end! (I couldn’t find any reference to another book, by the way, but Mafi definitely left things open for a future foray into this world – while still wrapping up the current story.) In the end, I decided that I was so enchanted with most of the book that I would only take off a half star for the ending, and I settled on 4.5/5 Stars.
***Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher via BEA16 in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was given and all opinions are my own.***
missbookiverse's review
3.0
Buchwelt gerettet durch…
… ihren lebendigen, klangvollen Stil. Tahereh Mafi geht so ganz anders mit Worten um als die meisten. Sie reimt, sie rollt, sie rüttelt an Regeln und nimmt vieles wortwörtlich. Das klingt dann manchmal so:
Ab und zu hat mich die Erzählstimme mit ihrem Humor sogar an Valentes Fairyland-Reihe erinnert, aber ganz so gut ist sie dann doch noch nicht.
… ein farbloses Mädchen in einer kunterbunten Welt. Alice fühlt sich fehl am Platz mit ihrer weißen Haut und ihrem weißen Haar in einer Stadt voll farbenprächtiger Magie. Den Vater vermisst sie schmerzlich und von der Mutter fühlt sie sich abgewiesen. Ich fand das sehr nachvollziehbar und rührend.
Seiten verloren durch…
… eine fade Story. Es nicht direkt langweilig, aber irgendwie holpert die Geschichte so vor sich hin und konnte mich nicht mitreißen.
… ein kaltes Wunderland. Das Land Furthermore steckt eigentlich voller verrückter Ideen, aber während Valente mit Fairyland-Schilderungen mein Herz erwärmen konnte, hat Furthermore mich kalt gelassen, da steckte irgendwie keine Liebe drin. Vielleicht auch Absicht, denn Furthermore ist nicht unbedingt der freundlichste Ort.
… Oliver und Alices Vater. Beide waren mir ziemlich egal. Oliver gewinnt zwar an Tiefe, aber Alices Vater lernt man nie so richtig kennen und dafür, dass er eine so wichtige Rolle spielt, hätte ich gern mehr für ihn empfunden.
Spezialausstattung:
Lebendige Origamifüchse. Muss ich mehr sagen? Man erkennt sogar einen auf dem Cover.
Kurz gesagt…
Wenn Tahereh Mafi doch nur so ein Händchen für Figuren und Geschichten hätte wie sie es für Worte hat! Es lohnt sich schon einen Blick in Furthermore zu werfen, aber wer nach dem vollen Programm sucht, ist in den Fairyland-Büchern besser aufgehoben.
… ihren lebendigen, klangvollen Stil. Tahereh Mafi geht so ganz anders mit Worten um als die meisten. Sie reimt, sie rollt, sie rüttelt an Regeln und nimmt vieles wortwörtlich. Das klingt dann manchmal so:
Out the door and down the path and through the meadow and into the field, past the pond and across the bridge and over the hill and up and up and up the tallest tree in all of Ferenwood. There she sat, heart bumping into bone, and decided she would not leave this tree until she died.
Or until she got bored.
Whichever came first.
(p. 33)
Ab und zu hat mich die Erzählstimme mit ihrem Humor sogar an Valentes Fairyland-Reihe erinnert, aber ganz so gut ist sie dann doch noch nicht.
… ein farbloses Mädchen in einer kunterbunten Welt. Alice fühlt sich fehl am Platz mit ihrer weißen Haut und ihrem weißen Haar in einer Stadt voll farbenprächtiger Magie. Den Vater vermisst sie schmerzlich und von der Mutter fühlt sie sich abgewiesen. Ich fand das sehr nachvollziehbar und rührend.
Seiten verloren durch…
… eine fade Story. Es nicht direkt langweilig, aber irgendwie holpert die Geschichte so vor sich hin und konnte mich nicht mitreißen.
… ein kaltes Wunderland. Das Land Furthermore steckt eigentlich voller verrückter Ideen, aber während Valente mit Fairyland-Schilderungen mein Herz erwärmen konnte, hat Furthermore mich kalt gelassen, da steckte irgendwie keine Liebe drin. Vielleicht auch Absicht, denn Furthermore ist nicht unbedingt der freundlichste Ort.
… Oliver und Alices Vater. Beide waren mir ziemlich egal. Oliver gewinnt zwar an Tiefe, aber Alices Vater lernt man nie so richtig kennen und dafür, dass er eine so wichtige Rolle spielt, hätte ich gern mehr für ihn empfunden.
Spezialausstattung:
Lebendige Origamifüchse. Muss ich mehr sagen? Man erkennt sogar einen auf dem Cover.
Kurz gesagt…
Wenn Tahereh Mafi doch nur so ein Händchen für Figuren und Geschichten hätte wie sie es für Worte hat! Es lohnt sich schon einen Blick in Furthermore zu werfen, aber wer nach dem vollen Programm sucht, ist in den Fairyland-Büchern besser aufgehoben.
thebookishunicorn's review against another edition
4.0
Actual Rating 4.5 stars
"Darling Alice," he said, reaching for her. "Why must you look like the rest of us? Why do you have to be the one to change? Change the way we see. Don't change the way you are."
My absolute favorite thing about this book is the world that Mafi created. It is full of color and the descriptions of how important and bright the color is in this world made for a really awesome reading experience. When I think about this book my mind just fills with color! The writing also really reminded me of Lewis Carroll's, which is no surprise since this book seemed to have been influenced by his book Alice in Wonderland.
The magic is also very unique, each person in Ferenwood is born with a special magical skill. And at the age of 12 is asked to perform their magic in front of the town and given a quest if they are deemed worthy enough. But these aren't your usual fantasy magical skills, but instead they have a whimsical property to them; for example there is a boy who can climb the air.
Our main duo, Alice and Oliver, are fantastic characters who grow exponentially throughout the book in their own ways. I also like how their friendship progressed, and enjoyed how they ended up in the end.
The big moral of this book is acceptance, and how it is OK to be different from the others around you. I think this is a very pertinent message to be sending out into the world right now, and is interwoven into the narrative in such a way that it doesn't feel like they are beating you over the head with it.
I am really excited to read the companion novel Whichwood once I complete my June reading challenge!
"Darling Alice," he said, reaching for her. "Why must you look like the rest of us? Why do you have to be the one to change? Change the way we see. Don't change the way you are."
My absolute favorite thing about this book is the world that Mafi created. It is full of color and the descriptions of how important and bright the color is in this world made for a really awesome reading experience. When I think about this book my mind just fills with color! The writing also really reminded me of Lewis Carroll's, which is no surprise since this book seemed to have been influenced by his book Alice in Wonderland.
The magic is also very unique, each person in Ferenwood is born with a special magical skill. And at the age of 12 is asked to perform their magic in front of the town and given a quest if they are deemed worthy enough. But these aren't your usual fantasy magical skills, but instead they have a whimsical property to them; for example there is a boy who can climb the air.
Our main duo, Alice and Oliver, are fantastic characters who grow exponentially throughout the book in their own ways. I also like how their friendship progressed, and enjoyed how they ended up in the end.
The big moral of this book is acceptance, and how it is OK to be different from the others around you. I think this is a very pertinent message to be sending out into the world right now, and is interwoven into the narrative in such a way that it doesn't feel like they are beating you over the head with it.
I am really excited to read the companion novel Whichwood once I complete my June reading challenge!
marawii's review against another edition
4.0
I have been introduced to Tahereh Mafi's writing earlier this year with the Shatter Me series. That series is one of the best series I have read this year. However, I cannot say the same thing about Furthermore.
I mean I do like the book and the writing. But it felt too juvenile. And by juvenile I meant that I didn't like the use of Mother and Father instead of their actual names. I just thought it would be nicer to know the names of important characters in the book. (Or, it's just that I am getting too old to read this kind of book.) In addition, the beginning of this book was a bit slow.
Other than that, Tahereh's writing is phenomenal. She knows how to describe everything in the book. I felt like this book was an Alice in wonderland retelling mainly because of the vivid description of the crazy world of Furthermore, and that the main character is called Alice.
Even though some people were bothered by the rules of this world and didn't fully understand them. I felt like they were fully explained (for example knocking the door etc..). I think it's what made the world so interesting.
My favorite quote from this book is:
"The best bookshop in town had new books on display in the windows, and Alice was thrown off course. She stopped so suddenly she nearly fell over and, despite her better judgement, she snuck closer to press her nose against the glass." - Tahereh Mafi - Furthermore
It kind of explains what happens to every book lover out there ^_^
There were some very important life lessons within this book that would be perfect for the younger audience. It would help them greatly in accepting who they are.
I am giving this book four stars mainly because I loved the writing and the description of this color filled world. I think these descriptions would make a great magical movie for children.
I mean I do like the book and the writing. But it felt too juvenile. And by juvenile I meant that I didn't like the use of Mother and Father instead of their actual names. I just thought it would be nicer to know the names of important characters in the book. (Or, it's just that I am getting too old to read this kind of book.) In addition, the beginning of this book was a bit slow.
Other than that, Tahereh's writing is phenomenal. She knows how to describe everything in the book. I felt like this book was an Alice in wonderland retelling mainly because of the vivid description of the crazy world of Furthermore, and that the main character is called Alice.
Even though some people were bothered by the rules of this world and didn't fully understand them. I felt like they were fully explained (for example knocking the door etc..). I think it's what made the world so interesting.
My favorite quote from this book is:
"The best bookshop in town had new books on display in the windows, and Alice was thrown off course. She stopped so suddenly she nearly fell over and, despite her better judgement, she snuck closer to press her nose against the glass." - Tahereh Mafi - Furthermore
It kind of explains what happens to every book lover out there ^_^
There were some very important life lessons within this book that would be perfect for the younger audience. It would help them greatly in accepting who they are.
I am giving this book four stars mainly because I loved the writing and the description of this color filled world. I think these descriptions would make a great magical movie for children.
alyssa_davidson's review against another edition
5.0
Sweet little 12 year old Alice is thought to have weak magic due to how she looks. Little do they know that she doesn't show her color on the outside, but keeps it inside herself. Not much matters to Alice, but when it's all on the line she'll help her least favorite person in all of Ferenwood with his surrender. I loved watching Alice learn to trust Oliver and befriend him. They learn to put their differences aside to face the cruel world of Furthermore, a land that loves to play with it's food.
rybread13's review against another edition
5.0
First book by Tahereh Mafi for me and I'm already a fan. Furthermore was such a cute middle grade and I really want more. I'm pretty sure that it's only going to be a stand-alone although I would love to travel back into the mysterious world of Furthermore one last time, even if it was with new characters. I loved the adventure and Alice so much. Alice was such a magnificent, out-of-this-world character that I fall head over heals for. I honestly can't believe that this is Mafi's only middle grade book. You would think that she's already written at least another book or two to get the feel of it. I don't have a ton of experience with middle grade, unfortunately, so I can't justly compare this to other series. Furthermore did amaze me as a young adult reader so I really think that's saying something.
xjinxedx's review against another edition
3.0
I wanted to love this book. It was quirky and adorable but I found it hard to stick with the story.