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ladylothlorien's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I have mixed thoughts on this book because the writing style was a little weird to me. Things happened very quickly and there was a lot of “telling not showing” happening. It’s possible part of that is because it’s geared towards children, particularly boys. But I think it’s also because there are two halves to the book: the first half is familiar if you’ve seen the movie; it’s how Bastian comes to Fantastica and saves the Childlike Empress. The second half is Bastian’s adventures in Fantastica (I.e., Bastian learns the life lessons Fantastica has to teach him). It got a little tedious to watch him essentially throw a long tantrum but there were very sweet stories towards the end. So overall I have to give it four stars for a good story about a neglected boy who learns to love and shows his grief stricken father how to love again.
Content Warnings
Minor: Grief, Death of parent, Violence, Animal death, Suicide, and Bullying
If you’ve seen the film you know about the animal death. It is in some ways more devastating in the book; I cried like a child
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