Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
What a trippy book! But it was soooooo good. The main character is a boy who suffers from anxiety, as well as an allergy to wasp stings. His parents have just had a baby boy, Theo, who has a congenital disorder. The family is super worried about the baby's well-being and future health problems. The main character begins having dreams where a Queen wasp is telling him that she and her fellow wasps will "fix" the baby. However, he soon discovers the dreams are real, he and the baby are in grave danger, and the wasps might not be as benevolent as they make themselves out to be. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has an appetite for the strange and unpredictable.
Oppel's The Nest is shelved as middle grade, but it's even more deliciously creepy than I was expecting.
Protagonist Steven is plagued with anxiety and nightmares, and after his newest sibling is born with a congenital disorder, he begins to dream about a queen wasp who claims to be able to "cure" his little brother. After agreeing to something he can't take back, Steven's world begins to spiral out of control at the hands of the wasps who live in the nest outside his brother's window.
Coupled with John Klassen's illustrations, which tie in with the creepier elements of this story perfectly, Oppel succeeds in delivering (another) original story that will stick with me.
Protagonist Steven is plagued with anxiety and nightmares, and after his newest sibling is born with a congenital disorder, he begins to dream about a queen wasp who claims to be able to "cure" his little brother. After agreeing to something he can't take back, Steven's world begins to spiral out of control at the hands of the wasps who live in the nest outside his brother's window.
Coupled with John Klassen's illustrations, which tie in with the creepier elements of this story perfectly, Oppel succeeds in delivering (another) original story that will stick with me.
adventurous
dark
hopeful
informative
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
fast-paced
Maybe more of a 3.5. It was a really enjoyable and weird read but wasn’t anything particularly special.
I was surprised that the writing style was for such a young audience, but I also began to really like it for that same reason. I have found it very hard to find the right fit in books for my very imaginative 10 year old boy.
Though The Nest is written for children Oppel has employed foreshadowing and the nest as a motif. Steve creates a nest in his bed, he wants to feel safe, but at the same time feels smothered by the blankets. The house is also described as a nest for the family.
If you liked this one you might like....
To read the full review go to www.talesuntangled.wordpress.com
Though The Nest is written for children Oppel has employed foreshadowing and the nest as a motif. Steve creates a nest in his bed, he wants to feel safe, but at the same time feels smothered by the blankets. The house is also described as a nest for the family.
If you liked this one you might like....
To read the full review go to www.talesuntangled.wordpress.com
This was... pretty weird. Another one that I would probably like better if I had read it rather than listening to it, but on this one I don't think a re-read would help. Damage has been done. Although after reading a few reviews where people talk about the illustrations, I think I am going to have to check them out and see if that helps my opinion any.
I will say this: the story definitely keeps you on your toes, trying to figure out what is good and what is evil, what is reality and what is imagination. I kept flip-flopping. So Oppel wove that pretty tightly. But the whole thing was just... strange. I also couldn't figure out the time period. It felt as though it was in the 50s, but then toward the end of the book the main character talks about his cell phone going dead, so... obviously not the 50s. Anyway. If you like a little twist of creepy in your middle-grade/YA books (another thing I can't quite figure out about this book is which genre it's in- it seems to be smack-dab in the middle), give this a shot for sure.
I will say this: the story definitely keeps you on your toes, trying to figure out what is good and what is evil, what is reality and what is imagination. I kept flip-flopping. So Oppel wove that pretty tightly. But the whole thing was just... strange. I also couldn't figure out the time period. It felt as though it was in the 50s, but then toward the end of the book the main character talks about his cell phone going dead, so... obviously not the 50s. Anyway. If you like a little twist of creepy in your middle-grade/YA books (another thing I can't quite figure out about this book is which genre it's in- it seems to be smack-dab in the middle), give this a shot for sure.
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Chronic illness
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders
This book gave me nightmares for days! Well, maybe not days, but it did stay fresh in my mind and every time I see "The Nest" it all comes flooding right back in. The creepiness that fills these pages is no joke, so much going on in such a short amount of pages. Like really, I will not be able to be near another nest without thinking "Is there some creepy queen in there trying to knock on our windows, trying to take over a life that isn't theirs??"
"I didn't want to be here. I willed myself to wake up. I told myself it was a dream and I was bored of it and wanted out. But I went nowhere. I turned. Behind me in the tough papery wall was a tunnel, big enough to crawl through, but before I could even bend to peer into it properly, I felt a soft filament caress the back of my head. Despite myself, my body relaxed. A big breath seeped into my lungs. My shoulders dropped. I turned to face the queen."
I really thought being grown, and this being a middle grade book, that I would not be spooked whatsoever. I mean, I shouldn't have been because it's geared towards young kids, but I was sorely mistaken. If I have any issues with this book it's that it shouldn't be that haunting with it being directed towards smaller readers. At least from my end, as a mom, I would not be very fond of my kids picking this up any time soon.
"There's our little darling,' said the queen proudly. It was slimy, with two black dots sunk into the front end of its soggy body. Underneath the eyes it had a kind of hole, and it was eating. All around it, stuck to the nest ceiling, were insects - a dead spider, headless bees, and other things that I couldn't quite recognize, but there was a bit of something red that looked like it had hair on it."
As I kept reading, it kept getting more and more bizarre and even when I was shook by the thought of wasps being some kind of supernatural beings, I couldn't put this book down. Like I said, doubt I'd like my nine and ten year old reading this, but for myself it was very much worth the read. It says a lot when you can have a book be this short in pages and be left with tons of questions and hair raising moments, even after its been long placed down.
"I didn't want to be here. I willed myself to wake up. I told myself it was a dream and I was bored of it and wanted out. But I went nowhere. I turned. Behind me in the tough papery wall was a tunnel, big enough to crawl through, but before I could even bend to peer into it properly, I felt a soft filament caress the back of my head. Despite myself, my body relaxed. A big breath seeped into my lungs. My shoulders dropped. I turned to face the queen."
I really thought being grown, and this being a middle grade book, that I would not be spooked whatsoever. I mean, I shouldn't have been because it's geared towards young kids, but I was sorely mistaken. If I have any issues with this book it's that it shouldn't be that haunting with it being directed towards smaller readers. At least from my end, as a mom, I would not be very fond of my kids picking this up any time soon.
"There's our little darling,' said the queen proudly. It was slimy, with two black dots sunk into the front end of its soggy body. Underneath the eyes it had a kind of hole, and it was eating. All around it, stuck to the nest ceiling, were insects - a dead spider, headless bees, and other things that I couldn't quite recognize, but there was a bit of something red that looked like it had hair on it."
As I kept reading, it kept getting more and more bizarre and even when I was shook by the thought of wasps being some kind of supernatural beings, I couldn't put this book down. Like I said, doubt I'd like my nine and ten year old reading this, but for myself it was very much worth the read. It says a lot when you can have a book be this short in pages and be left with tons of questions and hair raising moments, even after its been long placed down.