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bookshelfmonkey's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
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
4.0
This is possibly the only Ranger's Apprentice book that I've rated below 5 stars, but I promise there is a reason for this. When I first read this (around the age of 9, so a little below the target age), I hated it. Compared to the excitement that I'd grown to expect from the series, this book was fairly uneventful, and what action there was was split across two different plot lines.
I enjoyed it more upon rereading (this time at 18, which is significantly over the target age), which has led me to identify what I believe to be the route of this book's problem: a book about the horrors of slavery and drug addiction isn't really great for a middle grade/younger YA audience. These are topics that maybe should be introduced around this age, but this book went very all-in on it whilst trying to maintain a middle grade tone and it just didn't work. The result was that as a 9-year-old I was bored and as an 18-year-old I felt it lacked depth (not that it should have been aiming for an adult audience while the rest of the series is for kids). Despite this, I think Flanagan dealt with the situation he put himself in with the synopsis of this book surprisingly well and the Halt & Horace adventures were great to read, as always, and helped with the worldbuilding of the series as a whole.
I enjoyed it more upon rereading (this time at 18, which is significantly over the target age), which has led me to identify what I believe to be the route of this book's problem: a book about the horrors of slavery and drug addiction isn't really great for a middle grade/younger YA audience. These are topics that maybe should be introduced around this age, but this book went very all-in on it whilst trying to maintain a middle grade tone and it just didn't work. The result was that as a 9-year-old I was bored and as an 18-year-old I felt it lacked depth (not that it should have been aiming for an adult audience while the rest of the series is for kids). Despite this, I think Flanagan dealt with the situation he put himself in with the synopsis of this book surprisingly well and the Halt & Horace adventures were great to read, as always, and helped with the worldbuilding of the series as a whole.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Kidnapping, and Slavery
Moderate: Physical abuse
Minor: Alcohol
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