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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
adventurous
lighthearted
relaxing
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:
Complicated
-.5 star because I don't know if Arrietty marries Peregrine or Spiller and that is A CRIME.
After the lovely "Borrowers Aloft," this book feels superfluous, and worse, out of continuity. Why add another ending book when "Aloft" had such an "end of series" feel? Why does Spiller get so little page time in this book when Arrietty declared her commitment to him in the previous book? I did enjoy the scenes with Peagreen, but overall this book was a disappointment.
I think that Mary Norton just lost it by this point. Great borrower hijinks, fun descriptions and imagery, and then a seriously bonkers literary structure. Ghosts are set up quite deliberately and then never actually enter the plot. Why are there the horrifying ghosts of a murder-suicide in the middle of a nominally children's book?
Spiller and Peagreen are set up as romantic rivals for Arietty, but the foreshadowed tension never even arrives, let alone resolves by the end of the series. We spend the first half of the book (even more than usual!) establishing a plot line around humans and avenging the borrowers. That is then abandoned until some half-assed wrapup in the last few mini-chapters.
Not a spectacular finish for a series that was otherwise fantastic.
Spiller and Peagreen are set up as romantic rivals for Arietty, but the foreshadowed tension never even arrives, let alone resolves by the end of the series. We spend the first half of the book (even more than usual!) establishing a plot line around humans and avenging the borrowers. That is then abandoned until some half-assed wrapup in the last few mini-chapters.
Not a spectacular finish for a series that was otherwise fantastic.
This was the final book in the series and to be honest I really didn't enjoy it. I think it was the longest of the series at around 300 pages and I don't think it needed to be that long, it seems that parts of the book were being built up but then nothing actually happens. For example it is built up to being a love triangle between Spiller, Pea Green and Arrietty but in the end it doesn't even develop into even a half formed relationship, literally nothing happens. Same thing with the ghosts in the house, it is built up multiple times but in the end its just washed away?
I think this started as a great idea and was such an amazing story at the start of the series, however after that I think the whole thing sort of dragged on and didn't lead to anything. The books aren't long at all but it takes such a long time to get through them which is clearly not a good sign. Ultimately you build up to the final book in the series only to be let down by a lack of conclusion, nothing is really resolved and you're just left disappointed.
I think this started as a great idea and was such an amazing story at the start of the series, however after that I think the whole thing sort of dragged on and didn't lead to anything. The books aren't long at all but it takes such a long time to get through them which is clearly not a good sign. Ultimately you build up to the final book in the series only to be let down by a lack of conclusion, nothing is really resolved and you're just left disappointed.
My parents gave me the set of four Borrowers books when I was a child and I loved them dearly. I can't remember now if I read any of them to my children - I read the first one to the grandchildren and they weren't particularly engaged so I didn't persevere with the series. This year, in my attempt to de-clutter, I decided to read them all one last time and then move them on. In the process I discovered this 5th book - written 20 years after the 4th.
I have no idea what was happening in the author's life, but between The Borrowers Aloft (#4) and The Borrowers Avenged (#5) she only had published a Borrowers short story (Poor Stainless) and a separate novel - Are All the Giants Dead? - the blurb for which does not draw me in. But somewhere in the intervening years she clearly decided to draw the borrowers to a settled ending. Which she did very nicely, while still leaving room for the reader to imagine various different futures for these great characters.
The one thing I don't like about this book is the title. I mean yes, the baddies get their comeuppance, but the borrowers were never trying to avenge themselves - they were just trying to find a safe place where they could life free.
Anyway, I'm very glad to have found this book and read it. It's a much more satisfying conclusion to the seriew.
I have no idea what was happening in the author's life, but between The Borrowers Aloft (#4) and The Borrowers Avenged (#5) she only had published a Borrowers short story (Poor Stainless) and a separate novel - Are All the Giants Dead? - the blurb for which does not draw me in. But somewhere in the intervening years she clearly decided to draw the borrowers to a settled ending. Which she did very nicely, while still leaving room for the reader to imagine various different futures for these great characters.
The one thing I don't like about this book is the title. I mean yes, the baddies get their comeuppance, but the borrowers were never trying to avenge themselves - they were just trying to find a safe place where they could life free.
Anyway, I'm very glad to have found this book and read it. It's a much more satisfying conclusion to the seriew.
Definitely my least favorite of the series. I feel like I only read this one once, and I ate this series up as a kid--read it over and over and over and over. So. Not a favorite :P
This book was first published *long* after I had read the first four in the series, so I didn't even know it existed until now. I plan to read the whole series with my elementary-aged son.
GRL S
GRL S
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This series as a whole was a bit.. inconsistent. And, honestly, I really don't see how they are "Avenged" in this book. All I am getting from this one is more questions, and lots of lose ends.
Although this book isn't as good as the rest of the series, I did enjoy it. Getting through them seemed to take so very long for this book.