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3.63 AVERAGE
3.63 AVERAGE
slow-paced
I love a good children's adventure story with a good vs. evil storyline. I picked this up because of the Narnia reference. It was not a bad book, but it was not....an exciting book?
I found it trying too hard to be like Narnia instead of taking a retelling vibe and running with it. I felt the end was the best part and it took too long to get there.
I found it trying too hard to be like Narnia instead of taking a retelling vibe and running with it. I felt the end was the best part and it took too long to get there.
I was excited to get through this book. The vocabulary is good from a teacher's perspective, but I think it's a bit much for its target audience. The characters don't act like any 12 year olds I know.
Narnia + Labyrinth + wizard of Oz + Irish Merry Men? The crows should’ve been turncoats. Everything was too predictable and too precious.
wow, there are some brutal reviews on here for this one. i really enjoyed it.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
We listened to the audio book on a road trip for most of this, and the reader is absolutely atrocious. I wish we'd read the audible reviews beforehand because it seems to be the consensus. Her reading style is incredibly distracting. But, the story was engaging enough that we decided to get the physical copy to finish reading aloud after the road trip ended. Meloy's writing style is incredibly rich and he truly builds the world in vivid detail. Sometimes the detail skewed a little too detailed for my taste - so that it almost became a movie, noting each movement of a character so that very little is left to the imagination. But I appreciate the vividness of Meloy's vision, and the story was fun. Some classic issues with kids not going to adults for help - and the adults just generally being unrealistic and making incredibly unlikely choices. But, the story wouldn't exist without those weird choices, so, some suspension of disbelief is warranted. Overall, enjoyable enough that we're moving on to book 2.
3.5 stars / cute read, very much narnia in the oregon woods. the world-building and setting were the best, prue and curtis were enjoyable heroes to follow in this wild world. i especially loved the illustrations throughout the book!
Bought this for my niece and then I started reading it myself, go figure.
Enjoyable. Loved the illustrations, and the storyline moved along. But this read more like a very familiar mashup of some of my favorite childhood stories rather than its own standout. As I was reading, I was thinking of Witch and the Wardrobe (without the symbolism), Robin Hood, Brer Rabbit and so on.
Reasons this book is easily spotted as a hipster-magnet, or at least a book born of two hipsters:
1) It's set in Portland.
2) The main character, Prue, is a preteen, but she knows how to change her own bicycle wheel. Psssshhh.
3) The language is often too large for the subject
4) The adjective I'd use to describe the book = whimsical
I feel bad writing it, but when I think of this book, "cute" comes to mind. Probably not the best compliment. I don't think this would have made it without the illustrations by Meloy's wife, Carson Ellis. Well done, Ellis. If I was OK with defacing books (which sadly, I'm not), I would tear out a few of the plates and frame them.
PS. Did anyone else notice all of the typos? I could definately tell where the publisher was skimping on costs. Yikes.
Enjoyable. Loved the illustrations, and the storyline moved along. But this read more like a very familiar mashup of some of my favorite childhood stories rather than its own standout. As I was reading, I was thinking of Witch and the Wardrobe (without the symbolism), Robin Hood, Brer Rabbit and so on.
Reasons this book is easily spotted as a hipster-magnet, or at least a book born of two hipsters:
1) It's set in Portland.
2) The main character, Prue, is a preteen, but she knows how to change her own bicycle wheel. Psssshhh.
3) The language is often too large for the subject
4) The adjective I'd use to describe the book = whimsical
I feel bad writing it, but when I think of this book, "cute" comes to mind. Probably not the best compliment. I don't think this would have made it without the illustrations by Meloy's wife, Carson Ellis. Well done, Ellis. If I was OK with defacing books (which sadly, I'm not), I would tear out a few of the plates and frame them.
PS. Did anyone else notice all of the typos? I could definately tell where the publisher was skimping on costs. Yikes.
2.5 stars. This is a nice story but it is far too long—trimming 200 pages would greatly improve it. I liked it but it didn’t have the spark of childhood magic that Narnia or The Hobbit or other children’s fantasy books have. It’s a pity, because the other two books in the trilogy sound interesting but I am very reluctant to slog through more doorstoppers like this one.
I think this book could be rather magical for younger readers, but I was just bored, honestly. I'd rather read the Mysterious Benedict Society any day.