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gifcompatible's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
terese_utan_h's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
elephant's review
4.0
This third installment in the Thickety series has more adventure and magic as Kara and Taff go to the World so that they can go into the Well of Witches and rescue Grace so she can reverse the spell and release their father from Timoth Clen. It ends with a cliffhanger so there will be more to come.
aryastarkstan2000's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
frumiouslyalice's review
4.0
Goddamnit, it did it again. When I finished the first book, about an hour or so after I had previously planned to go to bed after what I thought would be a quick and put-downable read, I was so upset with the cliffhanger I didn't expect (not being quick enough to put together WHY a book would have a subtitle) that I was incoherent for about a minute. And in much the same way, I was pretty convinced that this would be the last book in the series - what with the current era of trilogies - and then MY GOD WHAT WAS I THINKING. WHY I DON'T EVER DO MY RESEARCH. /KICKS TABLE
I love this series. I love the writing, from stark to lyrical to plain. I love the characters, complicated and growing. I love the morality: a spectrum of grey with Kara at the center, always believing in the good of others even when she struggles to see it in herself. I love the horror in it - how it's not so much a horror of horrifying things, but horrors of good people compelled to do bad, of bad people under the guise of good, of the horrors of obsession. I mean there's some other straight up horrifying stuff, absolutely, but the scary parts of these books are much more than those. It's watching Safi with the grimmoire. It's realizing the suffusion of the Fold into the World. It's how Abby can't forgive herself. It's so... so MORE.
I don't want to say I didn't like this book as much as the second one. I said that last time too, and it's occurring to me now that it's not that I don't like it as much, but I like this in a different way. I loved the village in the first one, which definitely takes the front seat of what I found terrifying about the book, perhaps even more so than Kara's obsession with the grimmoire. I loved Mary and the theme of un-life in the second one, therefore its focuses on regret, redemption, and how death can be twisted. And in this book, I love Kara's journey, and how it spins the world around her. The universe of the Thickety picks away at all of Kara's assumptions about how life is, taking the longest with her assumptions about herself.
Who can blame her? The indoctrination of the Fold has lived with her through her entire life, and it tarnishes her thoughts and plans on every page. I will admit - it was difficult not to predict that Kara would get her powers back at some point, but I was anxious about it. Would I feel cheated? Would it feel like a deus ex machina? The answers? No, and maybe. The whole situation with the Sundering did feel somewhat convenient - however, the journey Kara takes to get there, and the revelation afterwards - I didn't feel cheated at all. I felt like Kara deserved it. I wanted her to achieve it and it was with a wonderful message and theme. If I was the focus age of this book, I definitely think I would have appreciated it in my older years, looking back.
Occasionally, I feel cynical about children's books. I like light reading as much as the next person, but for me to really like something, there has to be something deeper. The Thickety series is a Mariana Trench of emotional, psychological, and moral depth that deserves to be thought about in that highest of regards.
To cut back on the gushing for a bit, however, I feel like I have to level some criticism. The book, as far as I can tell, is fairly lacking in diversity. The way that Taff takes offense to being called a girl (and could only be a girl if he is an ugly girl because boys and girls look different! hahaha!) and mentions of girls thinking girl thoughts and boys thinking boy thoughts stands out in particular. Most people might not care - cisnormativity is still sort of a general thing in books. And it definitely is a general criticism, nothing that most other children's books don't have outside of books specifically geared towards a minority group. That doesn't make it better, but it's worth pointing out that I have the same criticism of like the last five books I've read.
Overall? I understand why people might be turned off the book - horror isn't for everyone, but this series is a complicated coagulation of ideas and thoughts that also force you to think, and that's important to me in a children's book.
I love this series. I love the writing, from stark to lyrical to plain. I love the characters, complicated and growing. I love the morality: a spectrum of grey with Kara at the center, always believing in the good of others even when she struggles to see it in herself. I love the horror in it - how it's not so much a horror of horrifying things, but horrors of good people compelled to do bad, of bad people under the guise of good, of the horrors of obsession. I mean there's some other straight up horrifying stuff, absolutely, but the scary parts of these books are much more than those. It's watching Safi with the grimmoire. It's realizing the suffusion of the Fold into the World. It's how Abby can't forgive herself. It's so... so MORE.
I don't want to say I didn't like this book as much as the second one. I said that last time too, and it's occurring to me now that it's not that I don't like it as much, but I like this in a different way. I loved the village in the first one, which definitely takes the front seat of what I found terrifying about the book, perhaps even more so than Kara's obsession with the grimmoire. I loved Mary and the theme of un-life in the second one, therefore its focuses on regret, redemption, and how death can be twisted. And in this book, I love Kara's journey, and how it spins the world around her. The universe of the Thickety picks away at all of Kara's assumptions about how life is, taking the longest with her assumptions about herself.
Who can blame her? The indoctrination of the Fold has lived with her through her entire life, and it tarnishes her thoughts and plans on every page. I will admit - it was difficult not to predict that Kara would get her powers back at some point, but I was anxious about it. Would I feel cheated? Would it feel like a deus ex machina? The answers? No, and maybe. The whole situation with the Sundering did feel somewhat convenient - however, the journey Kara takes to get there, and the revelation afterwards - I didn't feel cheated at all. I felt like Kara deserved it. I wanted her to achieve it and it was with a wonderful message and theme. If I was the focus age of this book, I definitely think I would have appreciated it in my older years, looking back.
Occasionally, I feel cynical about children's books. I like light reading as much as the next person, but for me to really like something, there has to be something deeper. The Thickety series is a Mariana Trench of emotional, psychological, and moral depth that deserves to be thought about in that highest of regards.
To cut back on the gushing for a bit, however, I feel like I have to level some criticism. The book, as far as I can tell, is fairly lacking in diversity. The way that Taff takes offense to being called a girl (and could only be a girl if he is an ugly girl because boys and girls look different! hahaha!) and mentions of girls thinking girl thoughts and boys thinking boy thoughts stands out in particular. Most people might not care - cisnormativity is still sort of a general thing in books. And it definitely is a general criticism, nothing that most other children's books don't have outside of books specifically geared towards a minority group. That doesn't make it better, but it's worth pointing out that I have the same criticism of like the last five books I've read.
Overall? I understand why people might be turned off the book - horror isn't for everyone, but this series is a complicated coagulation of ideas and thoughts that also force you to think, and that's important to me in a children's book.
gracew's review
5.0
The third book In my favorite series of all time was not a disappointment! White continues to build a complex and interesting world! Avoiding info-dumps yet still managing to take us into the history of his world, White shows an extraordinary ability to propel the story onwards! Kara is an amazing and important heroin for young girls and Taff doubly so for young boys. Fans of the series will love this continuation. Now to wait impatiently for book four!
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