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3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Strangely, it’s actually quite rare to find a children’s book that’s fully fantasy. Usually they feature kids from The Real World who find themselves in a fantasy setting and have to save the world. There are exceptions to this rule, but generally full fantasy is the work of teen books and above.
Evernight is a fantastic example of what can be done in this genre for children. The world building is spot on, the characters are fleshed out. The magic system is interesting, the wands they use are almost guns. They have barrels and spells have to be loaded into them. The story is engaging and sets up perfectly for an epic series/sequel. I’d be VERY happy to read a sequel, just saying.
There are elements of all your favourites in here; it’s a bit Pratchett (the city reminds me of Ankh Morpork), it’s a bit Harry Potter (a wand lighting spell is mentioned a lot, it’s a vague one but you get the idea), there are witches and slaves and smugglers. People who live in trees. It’s actually quite dark in places, the evil witch and her pet Djinni are surprisingly creepy.
This book is also very cinematic. There were times when I could 100% picture what was happening, and could almost plot out the camera angles in my mind. It sounds like something that shouldn’t work, but actually tied in very well.
All in all this is a fantastic fantasy adventure and well worth the read for all ages.
Evernight is a fantastic example of what can be done in this genre for children. The world building is spot on, the characters are fleshed out. The magic system is interesting, the wands they use are almost guns. They have barrels and spells have to be loaded into them. The story is engaging and sets up perfectly for an epic series/sequel. I’d be VERY happy to read a sequel, just saying.
There are elements of all your favourites in here; it’s a bit Pratchett (the city reminds me of Ankh Morpork), it’s a bit Harry Potter (a wand lighting spell is mentioned a lot, it’s a vague one but you get the idea), there are witches and slaves and smugglers. People who live in trees. It’s actually quite dark in places, the evil witch and her pet Djinni are surprisingly creepy.
This book is also very cinematic. There were times when I could 100% picture what was happening, and could almost plot out the camera angles in my mind. It sounds like something that shouldn’t work, but actually tied in very well.
All in all this is a fantastic fantasy adventure and well worth the read for all ages.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I liked it, but it never really wowed me. Worth reading, I think, but sort of run-of-the-mill middle grade fantasy.
The story had potential but the execution was colourless and characters bland.
I had no idea what to expect of this book when I started it, but I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. Tho it was clearly meant for a younger audience (Upper middle grade), it had some darker elements and was captivating enough that I finsished it in one session.
What I liked:
- The world building and the magic system. The entire world had a beautiful steampunk aesthetic and the writing was just colourful and describtive enough to paint a clear picture of the scenery, but not be annoyingly detailed. The magic system was creative and quite unique, I mean, modernising the concept of wands into some kind of revolver? Amazing.
- The characters. There was not much time to really flesh out the characters that well, as the story had to progress quite quickly, but I liked what I got - especially the strong, POC protagonist, Lara and her heartwarmingly sweet friend Joe. Hell, the author even managed to make me care about on of the villains within two sentences!
- The writing. As mentioned before, the book did a great job of mapping out a beautiful world without exessive describition or expossision. I also loved the changes of persepctive. Usually I'm not a fan of jumping around to much, because it can easily get confusing and I often just end up skipping the parts of the characters I'm not interessted in. But here, the changes happend so fast and so smothly that I was always excited to see the story from a new perspective as well as return to the one before.
- The ending. Even though the book is by no means just rainbows and sparkles (after all, there are hangings and murder and whatnot), I found this books ending oddly comforting. Maybe it's because I usually read more mature books, where everything always goes wrong, nobody is really a good person and people always betray each other, but I really enjoyed how nicely everything came together in the end. The ending was satisfying, neat and tidy, but left just enough things the way they had been to not be cheesy or unrealistic.
A beautiful little story everyone can enjoy.
What I liked:
- The world building and the magic system. The entire world had a beautiful steampunk aesthetic and the writing was just colourful and describtive enough to paint a clear picture of the scenery, but not be annoyingly detailed. The magic system was creative and quite unique, I mean, modernising the concept of wands into some kind of revolver? Amazing.
- The characters. There was not much time to really flesh out the characters that well, as the story had to progress quite quickly, but I liked what I got - especially the strong, POC protagonist, Lara and her heartwarmingly sweet friend Joe. Hell, the author even managed to make me care about on of the villains within two sentences!
- The writing. As mentioned before, the book did a great job of mapping out a beautiful world without exessive describition or expossision. I also loved the changes of persepctive. Usually I'm not a fan of jumping around to much, because it can easily get confusing and I often just end up skipping the parts of the characters I'm not interessted in. But here, the changes happend so fast and so smothly that I was always excited to see the story from a new perspective as well as return to the one before.
- The ending. Even though the book is by no means just rainbows and sparkles (after all, there are hangings and murder and whatnot), I found this books ending oddly comforting. Maybe it's because I usually read more mature books, where everything always goes wrong, nobody is really a good person and people always betray each other, but I really enjoyed how nicely everything came together in the end. The ending was satisfying, neat and tidy, but left just enough things the way they had been to not be cheesy or unrealistic.
A beautiful little story everyone can enjoy.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated