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4.18 AVERAGE
4.18 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
If I could give 100/5 stars I would, seriously the best book series I’ve ever read and I pester everyone I know to read it. Elements of action, mystery and even a touch of romance, make this an incredible novel for anyone.
This was pretty interesting. It was like a strange mash-up of a bunch of really popular children's novels. The main character, Sophie, was pretty annoying to me. I really don't gather much emotion from her which I'm hoping changes as the series continues because there's quite a bit of potential.
Please don't kill me but I did not like it.
For starters, Sophie is the most insufferable protagonist I have ever had the misfortune to read about. She is the epitome of the "not like other girls" trope and is constantly referred to as "special." By everyone. She has 3 crushes and they all like her back. She is the "prettiest girl in school." Everybody loves Sophie, except for the mean people because they're just jealous. By the end of the book, she has a grand total of 4 special abilites, and all of these are ultra special. She is special because she has brown eyes instead of blue eyes, special because she is the "only slender blond in her chubby brunette family" (woe is you Sophie). She is basically a "chosen one" protagonist, and I don't actually hate that trope in general, it can be done well. It is not done well here. All she does is mope and whine about how special she is.
Furthermore, the worldbuulding irked me a little bit. The elves are perfect and completely superior to the humans. The author also went about the magic/notmagic/whateveritissupposedtobe in sort of a weird way. When Sophie asks about it, another character says that it's not magic because "magic is a stupid idea" (despite teleportation, light jumping, telepathy, catching lightning in bottles) yet it also apparently isn't science and this other character helpfully says that "It's just how it is." which is???? I just don't understand this choice. The author seems to want to distance herself from fantasy but this is definitely a fantasy book so I'm not sure what's going on. Magic doesn't have to be hard and explained down to every etail but something, anything would be nice.
Talking about magic, we get onto the plagiarism problem. This is basically Harry Potter but repackaged to appeal to a different audience. This next bit is from someone else's review but it is perfectly true: as soon as Sophie gets to Elfland, she hears that she has been invited to attend a prestigious academy for aspiring young witches and wizards elves called Hogwarts Foxfire. The school is presided over by a benevolent headmaster Dumbledore Dame Alina, who also gets to pick the constantly changing sweet treat password sweet treat tasting flavor that unlocks every student’s locker (on day one, the flavor is Fizzing Whizbees Mallowmelt). Harry Sophie quickly makes friends with Hermione and Ron Marella and Dex, and Dex happens to be a mudblood bad match byproduct, meaning that his parents were muggles non-noble elves. While at school, Sophie excels and is a natural at almost all of her subjects, except for potions alchemy (Professor Snape Lady Galvin seems to really have it out for Sophie for some reason). I don't mind books that take inspirations from other sources, as long as they add something to it- give it a fresh take, set it in another culture or give it a subversion. This adds nothing other than an immensely more frustrating protagonist and weird plot contrivances.
Finally, there is another odd plot detail that I can't really get my head around. All of the elves are white (except for maybe a couple described with "olive" skin). These elves are served by unpaid, dark skinned "gnomes." It is explained away as the "gnomes love to serve the elves!" But that is just not really satisfactory for me. Surely the author couldn't have not realised the implications behind this representation. Maybe it will be addressed later in the series?
I will end by saying that it is completely valid to enjoy this series- read what you like! It just wasn't for me. I gave it two stars because I did find it genuinely funny at some points.
For starters, Sophie is the most insufferable protagonist I have ever had the misfortune to read about. She is the epitome of the "not like other girls" trope and is constantly referred to as "special." By everyone. She has 3 crushes and they all like her back. She is the "prettiest girl in school." Everybody loves Sophie, except for the mean people because they're just jealous. By the end of the book, she has a grand total of 4 special abilites, and all of these are ultra special. She is special because she has brown eyes instead of blue eyes, special because she is the "only slender blond in her chubby brunette family" (woe is you Sophie). She is basically a "chosen one" protagonist, and I don't actually hate that trope in general, it can be done well. It is not done well here. All she does is mope and whine about how special she is.
Furthermore, the worldbuulding irked me a little bit. The elves are perfect and completely superior to the humans. The author also went about the magic/notmagic/whateveritissupposedtobe in sort of a weird way. When Sophie asks about it, another character says that it's not magic because "magic is a stupid idea" (despite teleportation, light jumping, telepathy, catching lightning in bottles) yet it also apparently isn't science and this other character helpfully says that "It's just how it is." which is???? I just don't understand this choice. The author seems to want to distance herself from fantasy but this is definitely a fantasy book so I'm not sure what's going on. Magic doesn't have to be hard and explained down to every etail but something, anything would be nice.
Talking about magic, we get onto the plagiarism problem. This is basically Harry Potter but repackaged to appeal to a different audience. This next bit is from someone else's review but it is perfectly true: as soon as Sophie gets to Elfland, she hears that she has been invited to attend a prestigious academy for aspiring young witches and wizards elves called Hogwarts Foxfire. The school is presided over by a benevolent headmaster Dumbledore Dame Alina, who also gets to pick the constantly changing sweet treat password sweet treat tasting flavor that unlocks every student’s locker (on day one, the flavor is Fizzing Whizbees Mallowmelt). Harry Sophie quickly makes friends with Hermione and Ron Marella and Dex, and Dex happens to be a mudblood bad match byproduct, meaning that his parents were muggles non-noble elves. While at school, Sophie excels and is a natural at almost all of her subjects, except for potions alchemy (Professor Snape Lady Galvin seems to really have it out for Sophie for some reason). I don't mind books that take inspirations from other sources, as long as they add something to it- give it a fresh take, set it in another culture or give it a subversion. This adds nothing other than an immensely more frustrating protagonist and weird plot contrivances.
Finally, there is another odd plot detail that I can't really get my head around. All of the elves are white (except for maybe a couple described with "olive" skin). These elves are served by unpaid, dark skinned "gnomes." It is explained away as the "gnomes love to serve the elves!" But that is just not really satisfactory for me. Surely the author couldn't have not realised the implications behind this representation. Maybe it will be addressed later in the series?
I will end by saying that it is completely valid to enjoy this series- read what you like! It just wasn't for me. I gave it two stars because I did find it genuinely funny at some points.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-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
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
tense
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