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catmom22's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
5.0
cwritesu's review
The big reveal is that Mom and kids are freedom fighters in an alternate universe. Really??? An Alt Verse story for middle-grade??? I feel like my -yr-old niece should read it and see if tracks? - I did like the shifting POV in each chp, with the character always identified in the chp header, along with their picture.
Mom abandonment- NOPE! One of my biggest pet peeves in middle grade is parental abandonment as an excuse to get adults outta the way for the adventure. I really hate that, in all flavors by which it appears. So lazy.
danileighta's review against another edition
4.0
This was an exciting, confusing, and smart book. Told from the perspective of three siblings in alternating chapters, I can't say you get a solid sense of all of their personalities by the end, but you do get a great story. This is a fun one for those who like mysteries and codes, as well.
Overall, I want to see what the author does with the next in the series before I can understand how I really feel about this one, but it's a good addition to the juv collection.
Overall, I want to see what the author does with the next in the series before I can understand how I really feel about this one, but it's a good addition to the juv collection.
vendea's review against another edition
3.0
Short, mostly enjoyable. Not my favorite of Haddix's books though.
isabelll1336's review
5.0
So far I think this book is pretty good. I feel like so far Natalie and chess are going to get together or something like that. This might be kinda weird but I feel like Natalie is actually my favourite character so far because idk i appreciate her trying to help out the greystone kids and i feel like at the end i really want them to have a solid friendship. I feel like this book is so excellent in the sense that chess obviously portrays maturity and having to be like the second mother and taking care of the emma and finn, having to comfort and reassure them when he himself is not. While on the other hand, Finn portrays innocence, not really understanding what's happening and I really like the contrasts and that we have all three of their perspectives so that we understand what's going on in their heads. As you can tell, Emma is my least favourite of the main characters. It's not like I hate her or anything, it's just that she does not really have much going for her right now that's like something special or something I relate to. Like natalie has the mystery aspect as i'm not really sure what she’s thinking and i really want to end up with chess just because then there's finn and chess being perfect contrasts to the other which is also appealing while emma just there… but i always feel like the middle childis the most interesting out of the bunch in real life so i hope that deems true in this book too. I really do not understand what's going on with their mother though like I understand there should be a mystery aspect but i really like how the author is writing the book as normally you might be able to guess what are the possibilities of happening after the first 100 pages but so far i'm still not sure. So despite technically seeing this coming, I found that the way they described the alternate worlds was a little bit strange but still sort of cohesive at the same time. I really like how it was all pieced together as well and all in all, I think how they described the big plot twist was pretty well done and definitely not totally unexpected but was very clean and made sense. What I would like to say though, is that I really appreciate how this series is only three books and then done. No more. Overall, I think it was very well done and most of the plot twists were very unexpected and I’m glad that didn’t leave the audience on a super huge cliffhanger but enough to still have interest in what the book is going to be about.
I still don't really like Emma as the rest of the siblings though and I really like that Natalie has become part of the squad?
I still don't really like Emma as the rest of the siblings though and I really like that Natalie has become part of the squad?
hazelsnoot's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
breakfastgrey's review
2.0
This book was ultra-disappointing. The hook is amazing-- three kids discover that three children with the same names and birthdays who do not look like them have been kidnapped-- and I've enjoyed other books by Haddix in the past. Unfortunately, The Strangers features tropes instead of characters, incredibly convenient plot progression, and absolutely pedestrian writing. I really wanted to like this so much more than I did.