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3.63 AVERAGE
3.63 AVERAGE
adventurous
funny
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This took me awhile to get into - as evidenced by the two years between starting it and returning to it - but somewhere about halfway through this winding maze of an adventure, it really caught me. The world Meloy creates is a little confusing at first, but once the various pieces start coming together and the richness of some of the major characters becomes evident, the story really picks up pace and takes off. (It's also a little darker than I expected, but being familiar with some his lyrics as a songwriter, I'm not sure why I was surprised at that.)
Child me did not care how terribly this is paced. Whimsy off the charts. Will be reading the sequel cause it’s the holiday season! Why not!
I wanted to LOVE this book. I am a huge fan of dark, juvenile literature and this, unfortunately fell incredibly flat.
The book starts out promising - Prue and her baby brother hanging out in Portland, baby brother gets kidnapped by a murder of crows (see-awesome, right?)and gets carried into the IW (the Impassable Wilderness) and Prue ends up going to find him the next day. Her schoolmate, Curtis, tags along (who I sort of hate). There's talking animals wearing outfits, moving trees - another whole hidden land in the IW that no one knows about.
I got to page 171 before giving up. Which isn't too bad...but then the book is 541 pages long.
The passages that focus on Curtis are incredibly boring and overall, I felt like I had read/seen this story before; The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Village.
I am upset. I was hoping that the writer - Colin Meloy, Lyricist of The Decemberists, would show me some dark, murdery scenes but I was just bored.
I might pick this book up another time and give it another try. The illustrations are phenomenal. But right now, content wise, it's just not doing it for me.
The book starts out promising - Prue and her baby brother hanging out in Portland, baby brother gets kidnapped by a murder of crows (see-awesome, right?)and gets carried into the IW (the Impassable Wilderness) and Prue ends up going to find him the next day. Her schoolmate, Curtis, tags along (who I sort of hate). There's talking animals wearing outfits, moving trees - another whole hidden land in the IW that no one knows about.
I got to page 171 before giving up. Which isn't too bad...but then the book is 541 pages long.
The passages that focus on Curtis are incredibly boring and overall, I felt like I had read/seen this story before; The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Village.
I am upset. I was hoping that the writer - Colin Meloy, Lyricist of The Decemberists, would show me some dark, murdery scenes but I was just bored.
I might pick this book up another time and give it another try. The illustrations are phenomenal. But right now, content wise, it's just not doing it for me.
I wasn't sure what to think when I had picked this up.
I had discovered the book and its charming cover art when I was shopping at Powell's bookstore while on vacation in Portland, Oregon. I felt since the book was set in Portland, it was a necessity to pick up. And, I don't remember picking up a book that had the heft of this book. Flipping through, I loved the feel of the paper and some of the illustrations were simply stunning.
It took me a while to finally dive in and really get engrossed in the book, and I think "The Atlantic" review says it best - the book has folksy charm. I went in thinking it would be more more magical, like a hipster Harry Potter, but found it to be a more rustic version of the Chronicles of Narnia with a touch of the Redwall series I read as a kid. Yes, does this story involve magic, but it's not a wizard and witch book saturated with spell-casting. Rather, it's an adventure story, with a healthy dose of political intrigue and machinations, with a touch of magic...I mean, we just accept that animals talk and that the Dowager Governess (who gives serious White Witch vibes) resurrected her son as a robot...and there's not a wand in sight.
I really enjoyed the book, overall. It had a very friendly, grounded approach to Prue and Curtis's story and their adventures in Wildwood. I also appreciated it lacked the cynicism that seems to permeate young adult novels these days. Prue loves her brother, who she is often responsible caring for, and she immediately feels compelled to find him when he's kidnapped by crows! Other YA novels would have Prue be indifferent - but she isn't - she feels responsible for finding her brother, and so the journey into Wildwood begins.
In her adventures, Prue finds herself caught in a territory battle between the Dowager Governess and her coyote army, the Avian territories, and the different factions of Northwood and Southwood. Her friend Curtis also finds himself enmeshed, at one point potentially finding himself on the wrong side of the battle for Wildwood.
There are some normal fantasy tropes we've come to expect, but they almost seem more grounded than other similar novels. Prue manages to find herself through her adventure with her smarts, her kindness, and her wit - not by casting smells or being sarcastic and mean. There are some valuable lessons around cooperation, friendship, and the grey area of truth that exist in the world and every young teenager eventually needs to find out.
I do always tend to mentally zone out whenever battle scenes are described, so I did rush through those pieces and wished they would get to the point.
Either way, I really enjoyed this first entry in a series and am curious to read more.
I had discovered the book and its charming cover art when I was shopping at Powell's bookstore while on vacation in Portland, Oregon. I felt since the book was set in Portland, it was a necessity to pick up. And, I don't remember picking up a book that had the heft of this book. Flipping through, I loved the feel of the paper and some of the illustrations were simply stunning.
It took me a while to finally dive in and really get engrossed in the book, and I think "The Atlantic" review says it best - the book has folksy charm. I went in thinking it would be more more magical, like a hipster Harry Potter, but found it to be a more rustic version of the Chronicles of Narnia with a touch of the Redwall series I read as a kid. Yes, does this story involve magic, but it's not a wizard and witch book saturated with spell-casting. Rather, it's an adventure story, with a healthy dose of political intrigue and machinations, with a touch of magic...I mean, we just accept that animals talk and that the Dowager Governess (who gives serious White Witch vibes) resurrected her son as a robot...and there's not a wand in sight.
I really enjoyed the book, overall. It had a very friendly, grounded approach to Prue and Curtis's story and their adventures in Wildwood. I also appreciated it lacked the cynicism that seems to permeate young adult novels these days. Prue loves her brother, who she is often responsible caring for, and she immediately feels compelled to find him when he's kidnapped by crows! Other YA novels would have Prue be indifferent - but she isn't - she feels responsible for finding her brother, and so the journey into Wildwood begins.
In her adventures, Prue finds herself caught in a territory battle between the Dowager Governess and her coyote army, the Avian territories, and the different factions of Northwood and Southwood. Her friend Curtis also finds himself enmeshed, at one point potentially finding himself on the wrong side of the battle for Wildwood.
There are some normal fantasy tropes we've come to expect, but they almost seem more grounded than other similar novels. Prue manages to find herself through her adventure with her smarts, her kindness, and her wit - not by casting smells or being sarcastic and mean. There are some valuable lessons around cooperation, friendship, and the grey area of truth that exist in the world and every young teenager eventually needs to find out.
I do always tend to mentally zone out whenever battle scenes are described, so I did rush through those pieces and wished they would get to the point.
Either way, I really enjoyed this first entry in a series and am curious to read more.
Read for my Care of Magical Creatures O.W.L 2019 (read a book with a land animal on the cover). It could've been a hundred pages shorter but it's such a joyous read that's full of bureaucrats, Bandit Kings, talking animals, friendship and whimsy.
adventurous
lighthearted
slow-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:
N/A
I didn't even realize it was the singer/writer from The Decemberists until several chapters through - but the shared author is not hard to believe. Reading this gave me all the best feelings that listening to The Decemberists gives me. A very enjoyable read with lovely illustrations. :)
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This was an epic adventure, and the world inside the Impassable Woods is beautiful and diverse and sinister sometimes too. While long, very long at times, the adventure is worth it!
This was a great adventure, like a modern Chronicles of Narnia. Amanda Plummer made the audio book so fun. I can't wait to see what Laika Studios does with it.