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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
My second read to the year. I adored this book and read it in the span of 17 hours.
Ando en conflicto.
Ya reflexioné. De nuevo siento que no era necesario otro libro (aunque este si construyó un final para el cuarto) pero la historia fue buena, más los cambios de narración. Me encanta el villano, lo odio. La protagonista... meh. El plotwist padrísimo. No me gustó tanto como el segundo pero me encanta la manera en que me hizo entrar en conflicto por que yo casi nunca escribo y solo por eso subimos una estrella.
Ya reflexioné. De nuevo siento que no era necesario otro libro (aunque este si construyó un final para el cuarto) pero la historia fue buena, más los cambios de narración. Me encanta el villano, lo odio. La protagonista... meh. El plotwist padrísimo. No me gustó tanto como el segundo pero me encanta la manera en que me hizo entrar en conflicto por que yo casi nunca escribo y solo por eso subimos una estrella.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I confess The Hungry City books are really growing on me. A series about a future where giant traction cities wage battles against an extremist group promoting static settlements while underwater burglars, aerial balloonists, and a group of people hidden away in North America engage in various manners. Some of the best characters are truly excellent, like Uncle who is a Fagin-like figure running a group of burglar boys, Pennyroyal who is a foolish, venal, cowardly liar who in this book has become the Mayor of a town, and some of the locations themselves are like great characters--in this book the floating pleasure city of Brighton. The plot is also quite fun as well.
Overall, everything one could hope for in a book to read to/with a 9 and 10 year old--if not quite what I would read on my own.
Overall, everything one could hope for in a book to read to/with a 9 and 10 year old--if not quite what I would read on my own.
I loved the first two books and I think I might just love this one even more. They've added interesting dimensions to every character, added new characters that come right off the page, and developed the plot to a place that's great in the lead up to the final book. It was a bit slow at first, but some of the best fantasy fiction is like that. The inter-generational character set is unique to these books, and they make you feel for their entire history. You're at knife's edge of tension for the entire end quarter of the book, and you don't know what the characters are going to do. Maybe Hester's not going to save the day any more - and then what? This book brings into question everything earlier in the series. As a sequel, particularly a penultimate sequel, it does its job extremely well. I am so excited for the next one!
This book is so bad that it retroactively makes the other books, which were mediocre enough, even worse. It should have been a DNF, but a friend coincidentally started reading it at the same time, so we suffered through it together.
I don't know how else to say it. This book is bad and Reeve should feel bad. Reeve's editors should feel bad. The publishers should feel bad. Everyone involved in allowing this book to emerge in the public consciousness as-is should feel bad.
Everything - and I do mean EVERYTHING in this novel is solved with a deus ex machina. The character arcs, which were iffy to begin with, are shot. Everyone in this novel makes stupid, terrible decisions with no rhyme or reason other than they're characters being forced to make them. No person, not even a tractionist, would act like any of the people in this book do, even if they were ridiculous caricatures of protagonists/villains/anti-heroes, etc. It could honestly be a meta-parody of terrible YA novels, except it is so clearly sincere in all of its faults.
Don't read this. Don't let friends read this. Don't let Peter Jackson's new movie convince you that you need to know the whole story. You do not, because there is none. None of it makes sense, and none of the questions you have will ever be answered.
I don't know how else to say it. This book is bad and Reeve should feel bad. Reeve's editors should feel bad. The publishers should feel bad. Everyone involved in allowing this book to emerge in the public consciousness as-is should feel bad.
Everything - and I do mean EVERYTHING in this novel is solved with a deus ex machina. The character arcs, which were iffy to begin with, are shot. Everyone in this novel makes stupid, terrible decisions with no rhyme or reason other than they're characters being forced to make them. No person, not even a tractionist, would act like any of the people in this book do, even if they were ridiculous caricatures of protagonists/villains/anti-heroes, etc. It could honestly be a meta-parody of terrible YA novels, except it is so clearly sincere in all of its faults.
Don't read this. Don't let friends read this. Don't let Peter Jackson's new movie convince you that you need to know the whole story. You do not, because there is none. None of it makes sense, and none of the questions you have will ever be answered.
Infernal Devices: Or, Why Is Everyone so Dumb?
Volume 3 in the Hungry City Chronicles was a fast and easy read, but my god, were the characters beyond STUPID! Wren, idiot. Tom, boring idiot. Hester, terrible idiot. Fishcake, sad idiot. I could go on for every single character. Only Dr. Zero had some brains and a journey worth following. How could I care for Wren when she makes stupid choice after stupid choice? And don't get me started on Hester. She has quickly become the least likable and most repulsive character of all. BLECH. She SUUUUUUUCKS!
So, if you can ignore all the idiocracy of the characters, the world Philip Reeve has created is still very cool (and steampunky!). We have traction cities, underwater fortresses, blimps, floating & flying cities, and all the fun that comes with aviators, pirates, and treachery. There is so much potential and I want to live in this world, just wish we have better/smarter characters to root for.
P.S. Hester really is the worst. Am I supposed to feel sympathy for her? Because I don't at all.
Volume 3 in the Hungry City Chronicles was a fast and easy read, but my god, were the characters beyond STUPID! Wren, idiot. Tom, boring idiot. Hester, terrible idiot. Fishcake, sad idiot. I could go on for every single character. Only Dr. Zero had some brains and a journey worth following. How could I care for Wren when she makes stupid choice after stupid choice? And don't get me started on Hester. She has quickly become the least likable and most repulsive character of all. BLECH. She SUUUUUUUCKS!
So, if you can ignore all the idiocracy of the characters, the world Philip Reeve has created is still very cool (and steampunky!). We have traction cities, underwater fortresses, blimps, floating & flying cities, and all the fun that comes with aviators, pirates, and treachery. There is so much potential and I want to live in this world, just wish we have better/smarter characters to root for.
P.S. Hester really is the worst. Am I supposed to feel sympathy for her? Because I don't at all.
4. I wasn't too excited to read about Wren at first, but the book was super exciting and hard to put down.