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calamitymane's review against another edition
5.0
Did I have an imaginary friend when I was kid? I think I probably did. Do I miss them now? Not really, but I miss having the sort of imagination that would dream up a person (or lime green bunny rabbit with white polka dots and purple lining in her ears) that would be my constant companion and partner in crime. I envy Amanda and her Imaginary and their adventures (even if she is a *wee* bit selfish with her cookies when it comes to Rudge).
This book had that wonderful element of tension that keeps you reading. It was in turns scary and funny and sad, but always very imaginative.
This is what good children's fiction is all about.
This book had that wonderful element of tension that keeps you reading. It was in turns scary and funny and sad, but always very imaginative.
This is what good children's fiction is all about.
ashleylm's review against another edition
5.0
Well, that turned out to be shockingly touching. It's pretty much everything I want in a book--compelling characters, an original take on a subject, a plot that manages to be consistent with expectations and surprising at once, and an unexpectedly moving conclusion.
I had literally no idea what this would be about or where it would go when I'd started it (I imagine Goodreads had suggested it because I liked something else, and I mindlessly added it to the queue), but it was a fresh, inventive, wonderful little read.
(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s).
I had literally no idea what this would be about or where it would go when I'd started it (I imagine Goodreads had suggested it because I liked something else, and I mindlessly added it to the queue), but it was a fresh, inventive, wonderful little read.
(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s).
lenagranger's review against another edition
5.0
Reseña completa en mi blog https://estanteriaencantada.blogspot.com.es/2017/07/los-imaginarios.html
cousinrachel's review against another edition
4.0
This book creatively fleshes out an ancient phenomenon; it's cute, touching, but sometimes sad . As you can probably tell from the cover, the illustrations are gorgeous. The writing itself doesn't shy away from death or scariness resulting partly from the surprisingly creepy villains, not too spooky but I admit a certain illustration startled me, especially since it was at night (which is a great time to read this). The combination of childlikeness and frightening elements is reminiscent of old-school fairytales, now that I think about it. Fans of Norton Juster's The Phantom Tollbooth may enjoy this.
readingundertheradar's review against another edition
4.0
Delightful. Hand to kinds with wild imaginations and dreams they can’t keep track of.
fuchsia_groan's review against another edition
4.0
Los imaginarios es un libro precioso, en todos los sentidos. Ni las ilustraciones de Emily Gravett ni la historia de A. F. Harrold tienen desperdicio. Es una novela de aventuras, sobre la importancia de la amistad y de la imaginación (también para los adultos, que muchas veces se nos olvida), con un punto tétrico, con buenos personajes, con una trama original y entretenida. Una gozada.
Pocas cosas me parecen más odiosas en la promoción de un libro que las comparaciones con autores ya consagrados, que la mayoría de las veces lo único que consiguen es hacerte desconfiar, leerlo de todos modos, y llevarte después a la decepción. Pero aquí, las similitudes con Dahl y Gaiman son sin duda acertadas, teniendo Harrold una voz propia.
Es de esas novelas que pueden disfrutarse a cualquier edad. Estoy convencida de que mi yo niña se habría entusiasmado con la historia y la habría releído mil veces, y es que como dice Bayona: He tenido la suerte de descubrir de adulto el libro que me habría encantado leer de niño.
Pocas cosas me parecen más odiosas en la promoción de un libro que las comparaciones con autores ya consagrados, que la mayoría de las veces lo único que consiguen es hacerte desconfiar, leerlo de todos modos, y llevarte después a la decepción. Pero aquí, las similitudes con Dahl y Gaiman son sin duda acertadas, teniendo Harrold una voz propia.
Es de esas novelas que pueden disfrutarse a cualquier edad. Estoy convencida de que mi yo niña se habría entusiasmado con la historia y la habría releído mil veces, y es que como dice Bayona: He tenido la suerte de descubrir de adulto el libro que me habría encantado leer de niño.
ianisssss's review against another edition
4.0
A very great book but i didn't give it 5 stars cuz i can't really say it's my favorite
sngick's review against another edition
4.0
Coen says we'll give it a 4 and not a 5 because it was a little scary and sad in parts.
(I really enjoyed the library setting for parts of this story and the gorgeous illustrations.)
(I really enjoyed the library setting for parts of this story and the gorgeous illustrations.)
literarystrawberry's review against another edition
2.0
[Maybe some minor spoilers? idk]
I dunno. I guess I was expecting more from it.
At the beginning I was overcome with LOVE and was sure it was going to be the most wonderful and amazing thing ever and have lots of beautifully subtle themes about Friendship and Growing Up and The Wonders of Imagination. (It mostly just focused on the last one.) I did feel that Amanda was just a /teeeeeeny/ bit of a selfish brat, but I figured that would be part of the character development, and that by the end she would learn more about being a true friend and grow to appreciate Rudger and become a better person because of him!
And, yeah, that doesn't really happen. Oh well.
I dunno, I didn't totally get the whole "best friends" thing, because they really didn't seem like best friends. I mean, sure, they played together all the time, but Amanda seemed to use Rudger more like a prop than a friend. She never struck me as seeming to care very much about his feelings. I know, I shouldn't expect (or even /want/) characters to be perfect, but I think I could have liked this better if she had just been a little nicer.
The villain was also less developed than I would have liked; again, I was hoping that maybe there would be some sort of theme like him representing adulthood or the death of imagination, and maybe his companion representing fear or something (idk man maybe I should just save lit analysis for when school starts back up), but instead he just seemed to be some random guy who ate imaginary friends. It was never explained exactly /what/ he was and how he was able to do this, he just did. But, you know, it's a children's book, so I guess that's okay. I was probably expecting too much.
All in all, it was okay. I feel like there was a ton that he could have done with the whole imaginary friends theme that he didn't do, but in a way, that's almost a relief for me, because I'm trying to write a story about imaginary friends too and I was really afraid he was going to have already stolen a bunch of my ideas (I specifically put off reading this book until I'd finished my first draft, just to be safe), but I am now secure in the knowledge that our stories are actually very different and I don't think anyone can accuse me of copying. I might have to take out the bit about cats being able to see imaginaries, but that was never a big thing anyway.
So yeah. I wasn't as satisfied as I could have been, but there were nice bits, and the illustrations were cute. Three stars.
I dunno. I guess I was expecting more from it.
At the beginning I was overcome with LOVE and was sure it was going to be the most wonderful and amazing thing ever and have lots of beautifully subtle themes about Friendship and Growing Up and The Wonders of Imagination. (It mostly just focused on the last one.) I did feel that Amanda was just a /teeeeeeny/ bit of a selfish brat, but I figured that would be part of the character development, and that by the end she would learn more about being a true friend and grow to appreciate Rudger and become a better person because of him!
And, yeah, that doesn't really happen. Oh well.
I dunno, I didn't totally get the whole "best friends" thing, because they really didn't seem like best friends. I mean, sure, they played together all the time, but Amanda seemed to use Rudger more like a prop than a friend. She never struck me as seeming to care very much about his feelings. I know, I shouldn't expect (or even /want/) characters to be perfect, but I think I could have liked this better if she had just been a little nicer.
The villain was also less developed than I would have liked; again, I was hoping that maybe there would be some sort of theme like him representing adulthood or the death of imagination, and maybe his companion representing fear or something (idk man maybe I should just save lit analysis for when school starts back up), but instead he just seemed to be some random guy who ate imaginary friends. It was never explained exactly /what/ he was and how he was able to do this, he just did. But, you know, it's a children's book, so I guess that's okay. I was probably expecting too much.
All in all, it was okay. I feel like there was a ton that he could have done with the whole imaginary friends theme that he didn't do, but in a way, that's almost a relief for me, because I'm trying to write a story about imaginary friends too and I was really afraid he was going to have already stolen a bunch of my ideas (I specifically put off reading this book until I'd finished my first draft, just to be safe), but I am now secure in the knowledge that our stories are actually very different and I don't think anyone can accuse me of copying. I might have to take out the bit about cats being able to see imaginaries, but that was never a big thing anyway.
So yeah. I wasn't as satisfied as I could have been, but there were nice bits, and the illustrations were cute. Three stars.
bardicbramley's review against another edition
5.0
I absolutely adored this story.
It was gripping, action-packed, and original.
I'm a big fan on fantasy books anyway, so this was exactly to my taste, but I felt the story touched on perfect amounts of morality, action, mystery and humour.
The characters were well developed, not overly irritating but with realistic flaws and actions. The morals were sweet and true to life, and the plot line felt fulfilling and progressively unfolded at a natural pace.
I would definitely consider this as a great recommendation for primary aged children, although it does have small sections that might cause distress for younger children. I would even recommend this novel as a class focus piece as it would be perfect to work with as a cross curriculum teaching resource!
It was gripping, action-packed, and original.
I'm a big fan on fantasy books anyway, so this was exactly to my taste, but I felt the story touched on perfect amounts of morality, action, mystery and humour.
The characters were well developed, not overly irritating but with realistic flaws and actions. The morals were sweet and true to life, and the plot line felt fulfilling and progressively unfolded at a natural pace.
I would definitely consider this as a great recommendation for primary aged children, although it does have small sections that might cause distress for younger children. I would even recommend this novel as a class focus piece as it would be perfect to work with as a cross curriculum teaching resource!