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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
I read this innumerable times when I was 10 or 11. Curious to do a re-read to see if it holds up.
It's 1832 and 13-year-old Charlotte Doyle is returning home to America from England. When her chaperones don't show she boards the ship anyway, despite warnings from the crew. The only female on the ship she, at first, sides with the seemingly decent Captain; only to find he's not so decent. She then becomes a member of the crew, is accused of murder, and sentenced to be hanged before reaching home. The ending is a bit far fetched given the time period, but it works well. This is a very pleasant read.
I had read (and really enjoyed) this book when I read it in my 7th grade English class. It was fun revisiting the story some 13 or so years later. Great historicity, no, but still an engaging story.
I had this on my shelf forever and didn't read it until I was waaaay older than the target audience. VERY fast-paced and definitely a refreshing break from long, slower adult books. And there was no annoying romantic subplot to ignore even though the main character was 13! Yay!
People are saying that the speed at which she abandoned her prissy high-class upbringing was too fast, but I disagree. It's written somewhat like a montage. The actual process would have taken more time. Also, there was a shocking revelation that forced her into it. She'd already started the process of character growth, but she still clung to that one shred of "respectability", and it backfired so badly that she was forced to suddenly abandon it. Culture shock? Definitely. General shock from witnessing violence for the first time? Of course. But unrealistic? Nah. (Plus it's a kids book and quick character growth is normal for the genre).
The think I found most unbelievable about this book was the end where her family members (who hadn't seen her in months) just... didn't care? They weren't proud of her, they weren't happy to see her, they weren't even embarrassed by her lower-class transformation in any kind of believable way. Her brief return to "normal life" could have been presented as obviously boring, constraining, and confining without a completely unrealistic family. Seriously, she's 13. If NONE of her immediate family members liked her or cared about her existence or accomplishments, you think she would have realized that by now, regardless of how naive she was to begin with.
People are saying that the speed at which she abandoned her prissy high-class upbringing was too fast, but I disagree. It's written somewhat like a montage. The actual process would have taken more time. Also, there was a shocking revelation that forced her into it. She'd already started the process of character growth, but she still clung to that one shred of "respectability", and it backfired so badly that she was forced to suddenly abandon it. Culture shock? Definitely. General shock from witnessing violence for the first time? Of course. But unrealistic? Nah. (Plus it's a kids book and quick character growth is normal for the genre).
The think I found most unbelievable about this book was the end where her family members (who hadn't seen her in months) just... didn't care? They weren't proud of her, they weren't happy to see her, they weren't even embarrassed by her lower-class transformation in any kind of believable way. Her brief return to "normal life" could have been presented as obviously boring, constraining, and confining without a completely unrealistic family. Seriously, she's 13. If NONE of her immediate family members liked her or cared about her existence or accomplishments, you think she would have realized that by now, regardless of how naive she was to begin with.
Very unfortunate story in which a young girl finds herself struggling to prove her worth to a ship's crew. They are all quite manly and intimidating. She climbs something and then they respect her. The end.
Disclaimer: this reviews is going to be quite harsh. I'm sorry if you love this book, more power to you!
I HATED this book with an intense passion. I found the protagonist to be the exact opposite of everything a good protagonist should be. Charlotte was whiny and naive which is actually not the part I had a tremendous issue with. Girls during that time period were supposed to be like that. No, I found her character development to be light a light switch without a dimmer. It's as if she changed all her values within five minutes. It was completely ridiculous. She also strongly reminded me of the typical YA female lead. Predictable with no real personality or passions but is a special snowflake and is destined to save everyone in the whole universe. Please stop this troupe ugh
I didn't find the writing to be anything unique. The historic elements felt poorly researched and the writing was bland. I predicted every plot twist that occurred and frankly was bored out of my mind while reading. This is one of my least favorite books I have ever read and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, no matter how much I didn't like them.
I HATED this book with an intense passion. I found the protagonist to be the exact opposite of everything a good protagonist should be. Charlotte was whiny and naive which is actually not the part I had a tremendous issue with. Girls during that time period were supposed to be like that. No, I found her character development to be light a light switch without a dimmer. It's as if she changed all her values within five minutes. It was completely ridiculous. She also strongly reminded me of the typical YA female lead. Predictable with no real personality or passions but is a special snowflake and is destined to save everyone in the whole universe. Please stop this troupe ugh
I didn't find the writing to be anything unique. The historic elements felt poorly researched and the writing was bland. I predicted every plot twist that occurred and frankly was bored out of my mind while reading. This is one of my least favorite books I have ever read and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, no matter how much I didn't like them.
Fun and full of adventure, but a bit far-fetched.
Charlotte is a typical well-mannered girl of 1832 as she prepares to return home to her family in America after attending school in England. But the voyage she takes turns out to completely change her life and shake up her world in ways neither she nor her parents could have ever anticipated.
Avi once again completely brought me into a world I knew nothing about and captured my attention from the first page to the end.
Avi once again completely brought me into a world I knew nothing about and captured my attention from the first page to the end.
This is one of my favorite books of all time. I read it when I was in 5th grade and now 20 years later I find that I can still pick it up and find things relevant to my over 30 age.