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vaishali26's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
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? It's complicated
5.0
jennifermilanovic's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
4.0
ws_bookclub's review against another edition
5.0
Thank you to Algonquin Young Readers for allowing me to join in on this book tour and for providing me with The Ogress and the Orphans in exchange for my honest opinion. This book is available for purchase now.
Sometimes you read a book and think, “Oh, what an entertaining and fun book!”
Sometimes you think, “This is an important book, a book that says something.”
And sometimes you read a book that is both. The Ogress and the Orphans is a well-written adventure, with children that speak to crows and a generous ogress. It is also a dangerous book, with wicked dragons and fear stoked into hatred. It is the sort of book that draws you in and makes you think. It teaches a lesson without beating the reader over the head with it (as a homeschool parent, I love children’s books like that).
The Ogress and the Orphans follows a house full of orphans in a town that used to be kind and helpful but became selfish and afraid after everything burned down (starting with the library. Hmmm…could it be that the freedom to read is important?), leaving suspicious neighbors who only trust their mayor, who has slain a dragon after all. He never seems to do anything to help, but in the town’s eyes he can do no wrong.
Meanwhile, in the Orphan House, there may not be enough to eat, and the caretakers are world-weary, but there is kindness aplenty. I loved all of the characters in the house! There are so many of them, but my favorites were Bartleby and Cass. Bartleby could hear the stories that the walls and trees tell, stories of both the past and the future. And sweet, kind Cass sets things in motion when an attempt to care for others goes in unexpected directions.
I loved the narrator, who gave small asides about the things it could say if anyone asked (but they didn’t). The entire book was wonderful and uplifting, something that is always appreciated. The Ogress and the Orphans is full of both adventure and heart. Pick it up. You’ll love it.
https://wittyandsarcasticbookclub.home.blog/2022/03/08/the-ogress-and-the-orphans-by-kelly-barnhill-algonquin-book-tour/
Sometimes you read a book and think, “Oh, what an entertaining and fun book!”
Sometimes you think, “This is an important book, a book that says something.”
And sometimes you read a book that is both. The Ogress and the Orphans is a well-written adventure, with children that speak to crows and a generous ogress. It is also a dangerous book, with wicked dragons and fear stoked into hatred. It is the sort of book that draws you in and makes you think. It teaches a lesson without beating the reader over the head with it (as a homeschool parent, I love children’s books like that).
The Ogress and the Orphans follows a house full of orphans in a town that used to be kind and helpful but became selfish and afraid after everything burned down (starting with the library. Hmmm…could it be that the freedom to read is important?), leaving suspicious neighbors who only trust their mayor, who has slain a dragon after all. He never seems to do anything to help, but in the town’s eyes he can do no wrong.
Meanwhile, in the Orphan House, there may not be enough to eat, and the caretakers are world-weary, but there is kindness aplenty. I loved all of the characters in the house! There are so many of them, but my favorites were Bartleby and Cass. Bartleby could hear the stories that the walls and trees tell, stories of both the past and the future. And sweet, kind Cass sets things in motion when an attempt to care for others goes in unexpected directions.
I loved the narrator, who gave small asides about the things it could say if anyone asked (but they didn’t). The entire book was wonderful and uplifting, something that is always appreciated. The Ogress and the Orphans is full of both adventure and heart. Pick it up. You’ll love it.
https://wittyandsarcasticbookclub.home.blog/2022/03/08/the-ogress-and-the-orphans-by-kelly-barnhill-algonquin-book-tour/
koppelwoman's review against another edition
5.0
5 Stars
Kelly Barnhill is a treasure. I loved this story just as much as The Girl Who Drank the Moon. And I will read anything she publishes.
Favorite quote…
“They remembered that a story, in the mind of the reader, is like music. And discussing stories among other minds and other hearts feels like a symphony. They remembered how ideas make their own light, and how words have their own mass and weight and being.”
Kelly Barnhill is a treasure. I loved this story just as much as The Girl Who Drank the Moon. And I will read anything she publishes.
Favorite quote…
“They remembered that a story, in the mind of the reader, is like music. And discussing stories among other minds and other hearts feels like a symphony. They remembered how ideas make their own light, and how words have their own mass and weight and being.”
typographic_whimsy's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
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
4.5
elizabethkroberts's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
rosegoldteacher's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
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
5.0
A cozy modern fairytale.
erine's review against another edition
3.0
Thank you to NetGalley for an eArc of this book.
An incredibly deliberate and methodical story, akin to a slow-moving, creaking waterwheel. There’s beauty, there’s repetition, there are reliable outcomes, and sometimes you just want things to move a bit faster. The overwhelming feeling I had when reading was pent-up frustration.
Let me put it this way: if you are exasperated at people who view the current pandemic as an individual problem and grit your teeth as we drop community mitigations, or if your heart sinks as you see people get sucked into propagandist and conspiracist rabbit holes where they live in a pit of cynical fear and suspicion and greed, then this book may offer you more of the same frustration. I think many readers also see hope in this story, but I don’t know that I can translate the kindness and clarity that emerges (finally) in this story into the real world.
There’s a lot of good stuff in here about acts of kindness, about thinking for yourself, about neighbors and community. But the story itself is a long, slow rollout that only picks up the pace in the last third or so.
Ultimately, I enjoyed this, but it echoed reality in ways that were not a relief for me, and instead added to my discouraged feelings about the self-centered, short-sighted world we are living in.
An incredibly deliberate and methodical story, akin to a slow-moving, creaking waterwheel. There’s beauty, there’s repetition, there are reliable outcomes, and sometimes you just want things to move a bit faster. The overwhelming feeling I had when reading was pent-up frustration.
Let me put it this way: if you are exasperated at people who view the current pandemic as an individual problem and grit your teeth as we drop community mitigations, or if your heart sinks as you see people get sucked into propagandist and conspiracist rabbit holes where they live in a pit of cynical fear and suspicion and greed, then this book may offer you more of the same frustration. I think many readers also see hope in this story, but I don’t know that I can translate the kindness and clarity that emerges (finally) in this story into the real world.
There’s a lot of good stuff in here about acts of kindness, about thinking for yourself, about neighbors and community. But the story itself is a long, slow rollout that only picks up the pace in the last third or so.
Ultimately, I enjoyed this, but it echoed reality in ways that were not a relief for me, and instead added to my discouraged feelings about the self-centered, short-sighted world we are living in.
hanamarma's review against another edition
4.75
An allegory for our times, with a hopeful ending. And a sweet story to boot.