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3.63 AVERAGE
3.63 AVERAGE
A solid 4/5 for this young adult fantasy adventure tale in the mood of the Narnia books, mixed with a bit of Peter Pan. I enjoyed the pacing of the story, I just had a lot to read at this time, hence it taking me almost a month (although it *is* rather long). The illustrations are perfect and match the feel of this story so well. I look forward to eventually reading the next entry in the series (which is on my shelf right now!).
my own fault for taking a 2 month break from this lol. the illustrations are beautiful, but it’s really starting to drag and continuing the extra 200 pages to see how it ends doesn’t feel worth it anymore.
i think i’ll just stick to seeing the film when it comes out.
i think i’ll just stick to seeing the film when it comes out.
This one is definitely going on the future kiddos read-aloud list
my friend elenalou recommended this book to me and i'm glad she did :) i loved reading this magical story. the wood felt so lively and old. the politcal battles and prue and curtis' place in it evolved fantastically. and all the characters, and part of the wood, we met added more layers to the tale.
Didn't love it nearly as much as I love the Decemberists. Felt a little labored and the story wasn't as gripping as it tried to be.
The story is fun and the world is described so beautifully that you can see, taste, and hear everything. There were some moments when I thought the plot was tripping a bit over the Hemingway-like descriptions. The illustrations are an exquisite compliment to the story. Truthfully I would buy any book illustrated by Carson Ellis. Good story or no.
2.5
I probably would have enjoyed this way more if I was a middle grader. I found the dialogue and the characters to be uninteresting. I thought the setting was cool, and the colored inset illustrations were probably my favorite part about this book. Overall, not impressed.
I probably would have enjoyed this way more if I was a middle grader. I found the dialogue and the characters to be uninteresting. I thought the setting was cool, and the colored inset illustrations were probably my favorite part about this book. Overall, not impressed.
This was an interesting mash up of the Chronicles of Narnia meets the Wee Free Men. Sorta. We listened to the audiobook as a family and the narrator wasn’t our favorite. Her accents were odd and she had a funny way of emphasizing certain words or syllables and uneven pacing. It made it seem drawn out or sing song at times. In fact, she became increasingly grating as time went on and I think the combination of her voice and wanting the story to get somewhere faster contributed to our overall enjoyment (or lack of) of the story.
We had some issues with characters and character development. We had major issues with Ifigenia’s name (seriously though) and her reaction over the blackberry debacle. We didn’t really like Prue. It seemed absurd that her parents would be so blasé about not getting their son back. It would have been good if the extraneous bits were left out and the point gotten to faster. Some folks have complained about the vocabulary, but that was one aspect that I loved. Overall a 3 with no interest in continuing the series… until I read multiple times the second book is better. Huh.
We had some issues with characters and character development. We had major issues with Ifigenia’s name (seriously though) and her reaction over the blackberry debacle. We didn’t really like Prue. It seemed absurd that her parents would be so blasé about not getting their son back. It would have been good if the extraneous bits were left out and the point gotten to faster. Some folks have complained about the vocabulary, but that was one aspect that I loved. Overall a 3 with no interest in continuing the series… until I read multiple times the second book is better. Huh.
This was by no means a perfect book and could definitely been shortened by about 200 pages without losing too much but overall I really enjoyed it. First of all the book itself is gorgeous and everything I want when I want to add a beautiful middle grade book to my shelves. The illustrations, especially the color ones throughout the book are absolutely perfect.
The story itself, like the back flap says is very "Narnian Influenced" but instead of feeling like a rip off of C.S. Lewis's masterpiece, it felt more like a nod of respect. I also suspected a little bit of Jim Henson's Labyrinth inspiration.
I think the plot meandered a bit and I feel like Prue leaving the Wildwood and going home mid-story kind of took me out of the magic of it all for a while. Also..her parents are really irresponsible and seemed much too okay with just letting their baby boy go.
But overall, it was an enjoyable read and as I said before a beautiful book to add to my collection.
The story itself, like the back flap says is very "Narnian Influenced" but instead of feeling like a rip off of C.S. Lewis's masterpiece, it felt more like a nod of respect. I also suspected a little bit of Jim Henson's Labyrinth inspiration.
I think the plot meandered a bit and I feel like Prue leaving the Wildwood and going home mid-story kind of took me out of the magic of it all for a while. Also..her parents are really irresponsible and seemed much too okay with just letting their baby boy go.
But overall, it was an enjoyable read and as I said before a beautiful book to add to my collection.
This is a good adventure book, with all the great elements of Colin Meloy's writing and rightly showing the responsibility for young brothers than only big sisters/brothers can understand. But it didn't deserve more stars because the infuriating reaction from Prue's parents when they discovered what happened with Mac. I can't imagine a decent parent giving up on one of their children. Alas, it's too long for a children book. Anyway, despite that, a fun book.