Reviews

The Stolen Prince of Cloudburst by Jaclyn Moriarty

amlibera's review against another edition

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5.0

Exactly what i want to read when I want to read this kind of thing.
This is ostensibly children's literature but there's so much here inside of the fantasy world beyond the tropes. It's funny and painful (in a way that is honest and genuine but not pulling punches); simultaneously fanciful and grounded. I read it the way I used to read as a kid, fully immersed. Just a joy.

abitofmoxie's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

majareads12's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.75

nikki_flowers's review against another edition

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4.0

Actual rating: 4.5 ⭐️s

I won a copy of The Stolen Prince of Cloudburst as a part of a Goodreads giveaway. This has not affected my review, which I am writing voluntarily.
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A truly wonderful middle-grade novel. This book will certainly be featured on my shelves when I get my own classroom as an elementary school teacher.

The story follows Ester, a humorous and whip-smart 12-year-old girl full of good intentions and mischief. She's predisposed to climb anything and everything showing readers that young girls can and should innately trust their bodies. The story is filled with strong women (sisters, aunts, friends) a has many important messages including...
• Understand that it’s important to trust your sense of right and wrong and that adults can be wrong
• The importance of apologies, including from adults to kids
• Having grace with mistakes and learning from them
• The joy of childhood and exploration and not growing up to fast

debra_co's review against another edition

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5.0

Wonderful! A Great Stone Face nominee. I was worried that since it was the third set in the Kingdoms and Empires there might be things readers new to the series wouldn’t understand without reading the first two. It can absolutely be read as a stand alone, although I am glad I read The Extremely Inconvenient Adventures of Brontë Mettlestone last year. I will be going back to read the second book and recommending this one to all of my fourth and fifth grade students.

laurennnn321's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes

3.75

kjersten's review against another edition

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5.0

All three of the books in this series are absolutely delightful. I love Esther's (I mean, Moriarty's) writing style and how it is so easy to narrate in your head. This book is so well written and would make an excellent read-a-loud.

A masterclass in worldbuilding and character development.
Spoiler The queen is also a doctor! The sisters are champion poker players! That one teacher keeps on doing backflips! Such fun, imaginative details! My favorite characters were Esther's father, the librarian, and the doctor that set her ankle.

Sharply contrasting from the warmth emulating from the above characters, let me just say that "Mrs. Pollock is awful." She gave me strong Dolores Umbridge vibes, and has claimed her place as one of my least favorite book characters of all time. So manipulative and borderline verbally abusive. Initially I thought that the personalized handshakes were so cute, as this is a fun trend that some teachers are incorporating into their classrooms lately, but did not expect their relevance to the story later.


I said this about the past books in this series as well, but it is so rewarding how no details are wasted. The way that everything fell into place at the end was great. I was happy to hear of how
SpoilerEsther was able to help Katya, about Pelagia's reunion, and a character that I did not expect finally doing something about terrible Mrs. Pollock!
The plot moves at a great pace (love the short chapters!) and, just like the first two books, each has a complete adventure with a satisfying ending. No cliff hangers allowed.

Also, the quality of this book was amazing. Cover, font, paper quality? Impeccable. And I LOVE that it didn't have anything written on the back. So classy! They didn't have to make it that fancy, but they did.

Though the style and tone were distinctly unique, the warmth at the heart of this book was impressively nostalgic. It reminded me of how I felt reading the Percy Jackson or Harry Potter books for the first time as a kid.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

eshinnick's review against another edition

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4.0

Very entertaining and silly. Having the narrator be the 6th grade girl writing her own story was fun, giving the story a very playful feel.

impreader's review against another edition

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5.0

Excellent story. Adult, young adult, child -- it has the story weight to pull any reader in, if they're willing to adventure past the top layer of the narration into the heart.

einnymydog's review against another edition

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emotional funny medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes

4.5