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scarlett_alabama's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
rmlknisely's review against another edition
2.0
I have to admit that I came into this with extremely high expectations. Yes, the Abarat books are still some of my favorite YA fantasy novels, but I was seriously let down by Absolute Midnight.
I had several MAJOR problems with Book Three:
First and foremost, Princess Boa, whose soul was living inside Candy Quackenbush's head for 16 years, is suddenly evil incarnate. Where the fuck did that come from? Did I miss Abarat 2.5, wherein Clive Barker does most of the groundwork for Absolute Midnight? We've literally only heard how perfect and good and wonderful Boa was since Diamanda, Joephi, and Mespa first hint at what they've done to preserve Boa after her untimely death by dragon on her wedding day. After being released from Candy's body, Boa immediately goes on a would-be rampage, first trying to kill Candy, then the witch who helped them and then her two sons. Oh yeah, apparently Boa tricked Carrion into teaching her super powerful magic. After leaving Candy and the witch (whose name I cannot remember and cannot be bothered to look up), Boa heads to find Finnegan, the man she was going to marry. That's a story for a different review, I suppose.
Second, Candy and a character who we've barely met fall in instant, deep, soul-fulfilling love in the space of one page. Oh, and did I mention Gazza was trying to kill Candy and her friends (or at the very least, get their boat to come back to shore so that an angry mob can probably kill them). Here's my problem with this: I have been holding out for Candy and John Mischief to get together since the first time we meet Mischief by the Chickentown lighthouse. Admittedly, this relationship (were it ever to happen) has some strange implications being that Mischief and his brothers are so, ahem, close. Bottom line: I do not appreciate some new character coming in to take over Candy's heart when I've been shipping Candy and Mischief since Day One.
Third, although I was quite sad when Mater Motley killed Malingo without a second thought, I did not expect and did not want him to be alive anymore. That could have been used as a great moment to show off the horror of war etc, etc. but instead Malingo comes back as a "head with wing-ears." That's how Geshrats are born apparently, but still. I do not appreciate Clive Barker fucking with me like that.
Fourth, the Nephauree. Are they aliens? I am seriously in the dark on this one. Somebody help me out here. While we're on the subject of unexplained baddies, the hell was up with the Rojo Pixler/Requiax combo? Feel free to let me know if I'm wrong, but Requiax are supposed to be the enemies of love and light and rainbows and puppy dogs and basically every good thing in the world, right? So why did it somehow magically fuse itself onto Pixler (a man who in his own mind, I would say, embodies all of the above)? Why didn't it just kill Pixler while he was deep in the Sea of Izabella?
Fifth, apparently Geneva, Mischief, Jimothi and others Candy has met in her travels through the Abarat are part of a resistance group called the Kalifee. This group is both ineffectual (I doubt Mater Motley even knew of their existence... they certainly didn't do much to stop her take-over of the islands) and basically a bunch of bitches. When it is revealed that Candy and Boa can still communicate somhow, the Kalifee kick Candy out of their super secret meeting. Gazza, of course, comes to comfort Candy after her friends reject her and then the Stormwalker shows up and all hell (literally) breaks loose.
Okay. Despite all of the negatives, there were a few really positive things about Absolute Midnight.
I've always been fond of Christopher Carrion, so it was nice to see him redeem himself. FINALLY. I really liked seeing Carrion turn into an anti-hero from the villain of the first book and a half.
I liked the character of Zephario, Christopher Carrion's long lost father, former ruler of the island of Midnight. After being horribly disfigured in the fire that Mater Motley set to kill her entire family, Zephario, apparently, became a mad man and eventually settled down on the island of Idjit to read fortunes. Of course, he and Candy eventually meet and Candy promises him to get him a meeting with Carrion. Blah blah blah. Father/Son reunion. Blah blah blah.
To sum up: Book Three is not nearly as good as the first two Abarat books. Like others, I'm hoping that this book is just suffering from trying to set too much up for the final two books that'll be released god knows when. This series is still one of my favorites, mostly because of the promise of the first book. I'll read the next one when it comes out, but probably not the day it comes out.
I had several MAJOR problems with Book Three:
First and foremost, Princess Boa, whose soul was living inside Candy Quackenbush's head for 16 years, is suddenly evil incarnate. Where the fuck did that come from? Did I miss Abarat 2.5, wherein Clive Barker does most of the groundwork for Absolute Midnight? We've literally only heard how perfect and good and wonderful Boa was since Diamanda, Joephi, and Mespa first hint at what they've done to preserve Boa after her untimely death by dragon on her wedding day. After being released from Candy's body, Boa immediately goes on a would-be rampage, first trying to kill Candy, then the witch who helped them and then her two sons. Oh yeah, apparently Boa tricked Carrion into teaching her super powerful magic. After leaving Candy and the witch (whose name I cannot remember and cannot be bothered to look up), Boa heads to find Finnegan, the man she was going to marry. That's a story for a different review, I suppose.
Second, Candy and a character who we've barely met fall in instant, deep, soul-fulfilling love in the space of one page. Oh, and did I mention Gazza was trying to kill Candy and her friends (or at the very least, get their boat to come back to shore so that an angry mob can probably kill them). Here's my problem with this: I have been holding out for Candy and John Mischief to get together since the first time we meet Mischief by the Chickentown lighthouse. Admittedly, this relationship (were it ever to happen) has some strange implications being that Mischief and his brothers are so, ahem, close. Bottom line: I do not appreciate some new character coming in to take over Candy's heart when I've been shipping Candy and Mischief since Day One.
Third, although I was quite sad when Mater Motley killed Malingo without a second thought, I did not expect and did not want him to be alive anymore. That could have been used as a great moment to show off the horror of war etc, etc. but instead Malingo comes back as a "head with wing-ears." That's how Geshrats are born apparently, but still. I do not appreciate Clive Barker fucking with me like that.
Fourth, the Nephauree. Are they aliens? I am seriously in the dark on this one. Somebody help me out here. While we're on the subject of unexplained baddies, the hell was up with the Rojo Pixler/Requiax combo? Feel free to let me know if I'm wrong, but Requiax are supposed to be the enemies of love and light and rainbows and puppy dogs and basically every good thing in the world, right? So why did it somehow magically fuse itself onto Pixler (a man who in his own mind, I would say, embodies all of the above)? Why didn't it just kill Pixler while he was deep in the Sea of Izabella?
Fifth, apparently Geneva, Mischief, Jimothi and others Candy has met in her travels through the Abarat are part of a resistance group called the Kalifee. This group is both ineffectual (I doubt Mater Motley even knew of their existence... they certainly didn't do much to stop her take-over of the islands) and basically a bunch of bitches. When it is revealed that Candy and Boa can still communicate somhow, the Kalifee kick Candy out of their super secret meeting. Gazza, of course, comes to comfort Candy after her friends reject her and then the Stormwalker shows up and all hell (literally) breaks loose.
Okay. Despite all of the negatives, there were a few really positive things about Absolute Midnight.
I've always been fond of Christopher Carrion, so it was nice to see him redeem himself. FINALLY. I really liked seeing Carrion turn into an anti-hero from the villain of the first book and a half.
I liked the character of Zephario, Christopher Carrion's long lost father, former ruler of the island of Midnight. After being horribly disfigured in the fire that Mater Motley set to kill her entire family, Zephario, apparently, became a mad man and eventually settled down on the island of Idjit to read fortunes. Of course, he and Candy eventually meet and Candy promises him to get him a meeting with Carrion. Blah blah blah. Father/Son reunion. Blah blah blah.
To sum up: Book Three is not nearly as good as the first two Abarat books. Like others, I'm hoping that this book is just suffering from trying to set too much up for the final two books that'll be released god knows when. This series is still one of my favorites, mostly because of the promise of the first book. I'll read the next one when it comes out, but probably not the day it comes out.
meghans_books's review against another edition
3.0
Now that Candy is back in the Abarat, she must find a way to get Princess Boa out of her head and keep Mater Motley from destroying the one place she's truly felt at home.
Candy meets a mad magician named Laguna Munn, who has two sons. The first son she made out of all the goodness in her and the second she made out of all of the darkness. The boys help their mother to extract the soul of Princess Boa from Candy, but Boa turns out to be a wicked woman who fed on the life of the evil son so that she could have a body. The good son gave up his life in order to save his brother.
Candy then finds that Christopher Carion is still alive and that, despite the fact Boa is not inside of her anymore, he still wants to help her. Unfortunately, he cannot stop his grandmother from attacking the Abarat, unleashing a darkness upon each of the hours in an attempt to take over the world.
In one epic battle, Candy uses the power of the Abarataraba to help free the souls of Christopher's brothers and sisters, which Mater Motley trapped into rag dolls.
In this book, Candy questions herself and her impact on the Abarat, Malingo proves he is the best friend she could ever have, and she meets her love interest, Gazza.
I really enjoyed the action in this book. Barker did it again! I couldn't put it down! Unfortunately, I thought the love between Gazza and Candy was a huge stretch. There was very little development in their relationship. He was her prisoner, then they were shipmates, but they hardy ever spoke. Then, all of the sudden, they were in love. As a self-titled teen romance specialist, this is not how these things are supposed to happen.
Candy meets a mad magician named Laguna Munn, who has two sons. The first son she made out of all the goodness in her and the second she made out of all of the darkness. The boys help their mother to extract the soul of Princess Boa from Candy, but Boa turns out to be a wicked woman who fed on the life of the evil son so that she could have a body. The good son gave up his life in order to save his brother.
Candy then finds that Christopher Carion is still alive and that, despite the fact Boa is not inside of her anymore, he still wants to help her. Unfortunately, he cannot stop his grandmother from attacking the Abarat, unleashing a darkness upon each of the hours in an attempt to take over the world.
In one epic battle, Candy uses the power of the Abarataraba to help free the souls of Christopher's brothers and sisters, which Mater Motley trapped into rag dolls.
In this book, Candy questions herself and her impact on the Abarat, Malingo proves he is the best friend she could ever have, and she meets her love interest, Gazza.
I really enjoyed the action in this book. Barker did it again! I couldn't put it down! Unfortunately, I thought the love between Gazza and Candy was a huge stretch. There was very little development in their relationship. He was her prisoner, then they were shipmates, but they hardy ever spoke. Then, all of the sudden, they were in love. As a self-titled teen romance specialist, this is not how these things are supposed to happen.
scottsofbohemia's review against another edition
4.0
Great descriptions, really macabre and grizzly feel to this one, the monsters where terrifyingly imaginative. Unfortunately there were a few character plot points that just sort-of happened, and were never well reasoned out by the book. Good read though, nicely carries on the series towards its conclusion.
meggybun's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
sad
tense
- 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
4.0
ghoulicious's review against another edition
4.0
It’ll get a full five stars if he ever actually finishes the next books.
shadowhelm's review against another edition
4.0
I really loved this book. We finally got to see what Motley could do and boy did she finally take a major role. The book has a lot more action than the first two and there isn't as much of the wonder of the Abarat on display but the characters and the story really took off. Can't wait for the next one and I hope it isn't another 7 years but with Clive Barker's recent health problems (he was recently in a coma) it could be a while.
dharriona's review against another edition
3.0
While not terrible, I definitely didn't enjoy this as much as the first two books. It had a different tone and feeling to it, as well as some continuity issues when in comparison with the previous novels. A lot of this story felt rushed and not fully fleshed out; too many characters and storylines that just kind of faded into the background or ended abruptly.
booksnorkel's review against another edition
4.0
This was good. Taking the story in a different direction this third edition into the Abarat. I like the pictures, I like the way the story is going, and I want more. I want to think that the changes are for the better, and that he has a plan. But I'm getting a bunch of weird messages, and vibes that it's going to turn into Galilee or Imajica but I really really really hope that it doesn't
haley_j_casey's review against another edition
3.0
Eh.
This could have been a really cool story laced with Candy's confusion and emotional state after she's torn from Boa and realizes that pieces of herself weren't her after all. Instead, Barker skipped past all that nonsense and didn't dwell on it for an instant. Something that could have brought depth to his amazing heroine was abandoned in favor of instalove--a trap Candy had NOT fallen into yet in the series which made her even more awesome.
I felt like this book, much as I love Barker's writing and magic and other worlds, left behind the epic fantasy of the rest of the series without much explanation and expected cool magic to fill in the gaps. I had higher hopes. It lacked the emotional depth it should have had in everything from love to loss.
Also, literally no one ever dies. Not the good guys, not the bad guys... I'm a little exhausted by the constant, miraculous, magical escapes from death's clutches.
The cover under the dust jacket is very pretty, however, and that makes me feel a little better. As does the fact that the first half of this book was excellent, as does the fact that there is a fourth book in the works that will (God willing) answer some questions and do it well.
This could have been a really cool story laced with Candy's confusion and emotional state after she's torn from Boa and realizes that pieces of herself weren't her after all. Instead, Barker skipped past all that nonsense and didn't dwell on it for an instant. Something that could have brought depth to his amazing heroine was abandoned in favor of instalove--a trap Candy had NOT fallen into yet in the series which made her even more awesome.
I felt like this book, much as I love Barker's writing and magic and other worlds, left behind the epic fantasy of the rest of the series without much explanation and expected cool magic to fill in the gaps. I had higher hopes. It lacked the emotional depth it should have had in everything from love to loss.
Also, literally no one ever dies. Not the good guys, not the bad guys... I'm a little exhausted by the constant, miraculous, magical escapes from death's clutches.
The cover under the dust jacket is very pretty, however, and that makes me feel a little better. As does the fact that the first half of this book was excellent, as does the fact that there is a fourth book in the works that will (God willing) answer some questions and do it well.