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3.63 AVERAGE
3.63 AVERAGE
They tell you not to judge a book by its cover, but come on. It's 2021. It's days from 2022, in fact. Isn't it time we all admit that they are lying?
Take this book, for example. Look at its cover. You look at that, you assume: This is a charming middle grade adventure novel about two children. It takes place in a fairytale-y forest, or wood, or whimsical tree-heavy area of some kind. There are animals in it, and since they're wearing clothes, they probably talk.
That's a lot of information to get from a cover, and it's almost all correct.
This IS a middle grade adventure novel. It does contain children and trees and animals that have outfits and the ability to convey meaning via the English language.
Where it lost me was the adjectives.
If you exclude the illustrations, which are just wonderful and the best part of the book by a country mile, this was not, for me, charming, OR fairytale-y, OR whimsical.
In fact, there is a lot of gun violence and death in this for a children's book about a forest society of talking animals.
I'm no prude but jeez louise...maybe make the swap to archery or something.
There is also a 13 year old who unwittingly drinks alcohol to the point of hangover. There is a 14 year old who kills someone at point blank range with a pistol. There's a kid who decides to stay and live in the woods and his parents and siblings mourn him.
There's also ivy that eats babies, but that's cool.
Another book by Colin Meloy, The Whiz Mob and the Grenadine Kid, is funny and action-y and creative and interesting. And it has the same quality of illustrations. And a heist!
I went into this anticipating some of the same magic, and I got something close to the opposite.
Add it to my ongoing villain origin story.
Bottom line: Maybe I should stop judging books by their covers? At least in terms of how excited I am for them.
Nah, who am I kidding. That will never, ever happen.
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pre-review
i rarely think a book should have to be nearly 600 pages long even at the best of times, but this felt especially unnecessary.
among other things.
review to come / 2 stars
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currently-reading updates
i'm falling behind on my reading goals, so there's only one thing to do: pick up a 500-plus page book i haven't ever thought about reading event though i've owned it for three years
clear ur sh*t book 28 / quest 13: fantasy
follow my progress here
--------------
tbr review
i haven't read this book yet, but i am strongly considering framing the cover as a work of art
Take this book, for example. Look at its cover. You look at that, you assume: This is a charming middle grade adventure novel about two children. It takes place in a fairytale-y forest, or wood, or whimsical tree-heavy area of some kind. There are animals in it, and since they're wearing clothes, they probably talk.
That's a lot of information to get from a cover, and it's almost all correct.
This IS a middle grade adventure novel. It does contain children and trees and animals that have outfits and the ability to convey meaning via the English language.
Where it lost me was the adjectives.
If you exclude the illustrations, which are just wonderful and the best part of the book by a country mile, this was not, for me, charming, OR fairytale-y, OR whimsical.
In fact, there is a lot of gun violence and death in this for a children's book about a forest society of talking animals.
I'm no prude but jeez louise...maybe make the swap to archery or something.
There is also a 13 year old who unwittingly drinks alcohol to the point of hangover. There is a 14 year old who kills someone at point blank range with a pistol. There's a kid who decides to stay and live in the woods and his parents and siblings mourn him.
There's also ivy that eats babies, but that's cool.
Another book by Colin Meloy, The Whiz Mob and the Grenadine Kid, is funny and action-y and creative and interesting. And it has the same quality of illustrations. And a heist!
I went into this anticipating some of the same magic, and I got something close to the opposite.
Add it to my ongoing villain origin story.
Bottom line: Maybe I should stop judging books by their covers? At least in terms of how excited I am for them.
Nah, who am I kidding. That will never, ever happen.
--------------
pre-review
i rarely think a book should have to be nearly 600 pages long even at the best of times, but this felt especially unnecessary.
among other things.
review to come / 2 stars
--------------
currently-reading updates
i'm falling behind on my reading goals, so there's only one thing to do: pick up a 500-plus page book i haven't ever thought about reading event though i've owned it for three years
clear ur sh*t book 28 / quest 13: fantasy
follow my progress here
--------------
tbr review
i haven't read this book yet, but i am strongly considering framing the cover as a work of art
I DNF-ed this book in the end, despite reading over 80% of it I just didn't enjoy it. The more I read, the less I liked it... and that's a real shame when it comes to a kids book, because they are often so imaginative and wonderful, but this one just left me cold. I will say that the illustrations within this are lovely, and I had no issue at all with them, in fact they were a large part of why I persevered because I was at least enjoying them, but then it just got too long and tedious for me and I just wasn't invested.
This follows the story of a young girl and her baby brother Mac who is stolen by a murder of crows and taken into Wildwood early in the story. It felt to me that this was trying far to hard to be 'down with the kids' from the start. Lots of modern-day references to things that 'hipsters' might like, but really it just came across as completely cringe-worthy.
The biggest issue with this for me was the fact that I saw everything coming, it was so predictable. I know it's written for children, but even children have brains and can see through a particularly thin plot line... Personally, I wouldn't recommend this to any of the children I know who are readers as they would also see straight to the end of the book and feel bored.
Sadly, not a book I liked, and by the time I gave up on it I felt a bit resentful for just how long it was and how far I had got with it, only to still not feel like it was really giving me a good story. Probably would have got only 2*s at most, but I didn't actually finish it in the end.
This follows the story of a young girl and her baby brother Mac who is stolen by a murder of crows and taken into Wildwood early in the story. It felt to me that this was trying far to hard to be 'down with the kids' from the start. Lots of modern-day references to things that 'hipsters' might like, but really it just came across as completely cringe-worthy.
The biggest issue with this for me was the fact that I saw everything coming, it was so predictable. I know it's written for children, but even children have brains and can see through a particularly thin plot line... Personally, I wouldn't recommend this to any of the children I know who are readers as they would also see straight to the end of the book and feel bored.
Sadly, not a book I liked, and by the time I gave up on it I felt a bit resentful for just how long it was and how far I had got with it, only to still not feel like it was really giving me a good story. Probably would have got only 2*s at most, but I didn't actually finish it in the end.
adventurous
funny
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Maybe part of my liking this book so much is living it back when I was about the protagonists' age. But still, rereading it now was fun. I did not remember it being so brutal (even though this is probably aimed at kids)
I honestly cannot comprehend why there are so many bad reviews for Wildwood on goodreads. I LOVED this book. The story was so funny and sweet, and altogether so amazing. Curtis and Prue are lovely characters, and I adore the charming fantasy elements that were put into this book. So many things happen, and it's fast paced, which is especially good when one is reading a 500-some page book. The sequels are even better, if possible. Although the reading age is 8-12, I loved this book. The author uses complex words, so any age group could read it. Wildwood is absolutely fantastic, and I recommend it to anyone and everyone. Amazing!
adventurous
mysterious
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
adventurous
medium-paced
This was pretty wild for a middle grade book. There was so much that happened in the book that it honestly felt like it could have been two books. I'm not sure if I would have kept up with it if I hadn't listened to the audiobook but I'm glad I did. I really loved the characters, especially Prue. I'd love to be her level of chill. I also loved Wildwood and the atmosphere it gave off. However, there were some things I just didn't love including how nonchalant Prue's parents were in the beginning. I know we need the parents out of the way in middle grade books, but they were just so unbelievable. I also don't know how I feel about Curtis' fate. I'll be interested to see what happens in book 2.
Conceptually, this was super interesting. It was creative, imaginative and had some light Chronicles of Narnia vibes to it (i.e. YA fantasy). That said, I found the book to be slow. Many of the passages were overly verbose and, as a result, came across as wordy for the sake of being wordy. There were a lot of details that didn't necessarily need to be included and there were passages that while beautiful did not seem to build on the plot of the narrative. One of the best parts of this book, though, was the illustrations. They were gorgeous; I found myself looking forward to those drawings than to the writing itself.
Overall, I loved the characters but felt some of the most interesting parts of the story fell to the wayside so the writing could focus on unimportant flowery moments.
Overall, I loved the characters but felt some of the most interesting parts of the story fell to the wayside so the writing could focus on unimportant flowery moments.
Thoroughly enjoyable. Really the perfect read for this time of year, and a wonderful reprise from the stress of the world. My only frustration with this book was with the lack of female characters. It passes the Bechdel Test based on only a handful of lines in a 500+ page book.
I don't really understand who the audience of this book is, but I think it's hipsters who love The Decemberists, Portland, Oregon, and SAT words. I'm not convinced it's middle schoolers.
I am glad the book ended with all the loose ends tied up as I am not planning to read the other books in the series. There were some enjoyable passages, but overall, I wasn't impressed.
I am glad the book ended with all the loose ends tied up as I am not planning to read the other books in the series. There were some enjoyable passages, but overall, I wasn't impressed.