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jacobferrell's review against another edition
3.0
Good YA caper with a fantasy bend. While I'm not going to binge the rest of series, I might pick up book 2 down the road.
technicallysam's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
eesh25's review against another edition
4.0
This is going to be a short but happy review. Short because I wanna get back to reading Oathbringer. And happy because this was such a fun read!
The protagonist is Artemis Fowl. He's a 12-year-old criminal mastermind, and he has a plan to steal gold from fairies. The book is in third-person, and so we get to see not only Artemis's side of the story but also the fairies'. This adds a lot to the book because the People (that's what the fairies call themselves) are actually quite technologically advanced. And that's both interesting and makes for some fun scenes.
My biggest worry going into the book was that it would lean too heavily into the 12-year-old genius thing. But that was never an issue. First, because the story isn't limited only to Artemis's POV. And second because, despite Artemis being very smart, he still feels like a 12-year-old.
I found some of the tech-speak to be a little obvious in its attempts to sound tech-savvy (which it wasn't), but it didn't both me much.
The book is fast-paced with great characters—Artemis, Butler, the LEPrecon officer Holly Short—and has a lot of heart to it. We see some of Artemis trying to deal with the death of his father and his mother's deteriorating mental health. Everything to do with the People was unique and entertaining. Also, I'll be referring to humans as mud people from now on.
Overall, this was just a very enjoyable read. The audiobook narrator did a terrific job as well, especially with the humour and the Irish accent. You know, my teenaged self didn't like Irish accents. My teenaged self was clearly an idiot because they're great, and this book was great, too. I can't wait to start the sequel, which I'll be doing later today.
The protagonist is Artemis Fowl. He's a 12-year-old criminal mastermind, and he has a plan to steal gold from fairies. The book is in third-person, and so we get to see not only Artemis's side of the story but also the fairies'. This adds a lot to the book because the People (that's what the fairies call themselves) are actually quite technologically advanced. And that's both interesting and makes for some fun scenes.
My biggest worry going into the book was that it would lean too heavily into the 12-year-old genius thing. But that was never an issue. First, because the story isn't limited only to Artemis's POV. And second because, despite Artemis being very smart, he still feels like a 12-year-old.
I found some of the tech-speak to be a little obvious in its attempts to sound tech-savvy (which it wasn't), but it didn't both me much.
The book is fast-paced with great characters—Artemis, Butler, the LEPrecon officer Holly Short—and has a lot of heart to it. We see some of Artemis trying to deal with the death of his father and his mother's deteriorating mental health. Everything to do with the People was unique and entertaining. Also, I'll be referring to humans as mud people from now on.
Overall, this was just a very enjoyable read. The audiobook narrator did a terrific job as well, especially with the humour and the Irish accent. You know, my teenaged self didn't like Irish accents. My teenaged self was clearly an idiot because they're great, and this book was great, too. I can't wait to start the sequel, which I'll be doing later today.
eesh25's review against another edition
5.0
4.5 Stars
The fifth book, and we have demons now! Turns out, the People still have a few secrets. And though demons haven't been around for a long time, something's happening that could change that. And, of course, Artemis somehow figures it out and decides to get involved. And it only gets better from there.
Honestly, the whole series is just getting better. I'm loving how the story progresses with each book. The growth in the character dynamics, the fact that we're able to address problems (like how Artemis shouldn't know about the People) and then move on. And I love that the series isn't afraid to make permanent changes to the characters or the world. Butler ageing, Commander Root's death, and now the introductions of demons.
The demons are great. I liked how they were introduced. They're entertaining too, and Number One, the demon we follow, is fun. The combination of timid, curious, fascinated and just fucking done with the morons of the world—it really worked for me.
Another thing I love is how Artemis and Holly are just friends now. Not enemies or reluctant allies, but genuinely friends. The two of them are so clever and work so well together that it's always great to see them team up. Not to mention that I adore how well Butler and Holly get along. They also seem to share the exasperation over Artemis's crazy schemes.
Another change was Artemis going through puberty. I thought it was handled with an appropriate amount of levity and self-awareness, even if the attempts to introduce a romantic interest were a little too blatant.
Overall, this was another great installment. It had a very strong plot, I loved the expansion of the world, and the pace was fantastic as always. I also played the audiobook while reading, but that was just because I love Nathaniel Parker's narration. Might continue to do that for future books, or maybe not. Either way, I'm really excited to read the rest of the series. Three books to go!
The fifth book, and we have demons now! Turns out, the People still have a few secrets. And though demons haven't been around for a long time, something's happening that could change that. And, of course, Artemis somehow figures it out and decides to get involved. And it only gets better from there.
Honestly, the whole series is just getting better. I'm loving how the story progresses with each book. The growth in the character dynamics, the fact that we're able to address problems (like how Artemis shouldn't know about the People) and then move on. And I love that the series isn't afraid to make permanent changes to the characters or the world. Butler ageing, Commander Root's death, and now the introductions of demons.
The demons are great. I liked how they were introduced. They're entertaining too, and Number One, the demon we follow, is fun. The combination of timid, curious, fascinated and just fucking done with the morons of the world—it really worked for me.
Another thing I love is how Artemis and Holly are just friends now. Not enemies or reluctant allies, but genuinely friends. The two of them are so clever and work so well together that it's always great to see them team up. Not to mention that I adore how well Butler and Holly get along. They also seem to share the exasperation over Artemis's crazy schemes.
Another change was Artemis going through puberty. I thought it was handled with an appropriate amount of levity and self-awareness, even if the attempts to introduce a romantic interest were a little too blatant.
Overall, this was another great installment. It had a very strong plot, I loved the expansion of the world, and the pace was fantastic as always. I also played the audiobook while reading, but that was just because I love Nathaniel Parker's narration. Might continue to do that for future books, or maybe not. Either way, I'm really excited to read the rest of the series. Three books to go!
delgremmyaward's review against another edition
3.0
2.5
My nostalgic love for this series keeps my rating artificially high. It's a fun book, but there are big plot holes. In fact, the holes are so big that they're actually the principal part of the story.
Still fun but probably for a more juvenile audience.
My nostalgic love for this series keeps my rating artificially high. It's a fun book, but there are big plot holes. In fact, the holes are so big that they're actually the principal part of the story.
Still fun but probably for a more juvenile audience.
carlyxdeexx's review against another edition
4.0
This is one of those books that really impacted me as a kid—I was nervous coming back to it, hoping against hope that I would still enjoy adventures with a 12-year-old boy genius and his best-friend-slash-surrogate-dad. I’ve grown as a person and I feared it would prove to be a bit of an outdated or too problematic read for me to fully appreciate its old magic.
I’m happy to say my worries weren’t warranted. ARTEMIS FOWL holds up. It’s serious yet silly, it sounds sophisticated at times but it’s still so simple and easy to consume, it’s such a well-written book for a young audience. I likely have this book to thank, in part, for the enduring impression upon me that smart people are really really cool (even if our genius in this book is a bit of an emotionally repressed jerk), and also that science and magic aren’t mutually exclusive.
There are some things in this that did definitely rub me the wrong way a little, like the two-dimensional portrayal of Angeline’s illness and the blatant push against sexism while still clinging to some Sexism Lite™️ in portrayals of Angeline and Juliet. Holly Short is a damn boss of a character but this book is largely dominated my male movers and shakers. Commander Root’s glorification is a bit Much™️.
But jeez, I love this version of the People and the creative way Colfer set up their world and their rules! I love Mulch Diggums and the details on dwarf physiology and function. There is not enough love in this universe for Butler—Artemis may have been one of my first ever fictional crushes (what can I say, emo sad boiis with buried hearts of gold on a slow redemption trajectory were v in vogue), but Butler was by far my favorite character, being the subservient yet powerful protector with a strong sense of honor trying to subtly cultivate such a principle in his young charge.
Sidenote: I was curious to see how Artemis would come off to me as a character now that I’m an adult and not reading this book as his peer. Would he seem bratty? Pretentious? Annoying? Immature? The answer is surprisingly, no? I can honestly say I can’t picture Artemis as a young boy reading this book—it is so hard to hear his dialogue in the pitched-up voice of a 12-year-old. This in tandem with Butler treating him largely as a superior (occasionally an equal) makes it just so challenging to actually imagine him as he is. My mental picture of Artemis is always teenaged, haughty, tinged with angst. It’ll be interesting seeing him as the age he is on the big screen, and hearing that dialogue from the mouth of an indisputably too-young child.
Ultimately, I still love the ride. I told Colfer when I met him that this series made its mark on me and definitely kept me voraciously reading as a kid, which is true, and I’m happy to say there is still plenty of fun to be had with book one, though I recall that the next two were my favorites of the lot, bar none. I’m looking forward to the movie, and only hope I’ll have the same praise for it when it hits theaters!
I’m happy to say my worries weren’t warranted. ARTEMIS FOWL holds up. It’s serious yet silly, it sounds sophisticated at times but it’s still so simple and easy to consume, it’s such a well-written book for a young audience. I likely have this book to thank, in part, for the enduring impression upon me that smart people are really really cool (even if our genius in this book is a bit of an emotionally repressed jerk), and also that science and magic aren’t mutually exclusive.
There are some things in this that did definitely rub me the wrong way a little, like the two-dimensional portrayal of Angeline’s illness and the blatant push against sexism while still clinging to some Sexism Lite™️ in portrayals of Angeline and Juliet. Holly Short is a damn boss of a character but this book is largely dominated my male movers and shakers. Commander Root’s glorification is a bit Much™️.
But jeez, I love this version of the People and the creative way Colfer set up their world and their rules! I love Mulch Diggums and the details on dwarf physiology and function. There is not enough love in this universe for Butler—Artemis may have been one of my first ever fictional crushes (what can I say, emo sad boiis with buried hearts of gold on a slow redemption trajectory were v in vogue), but Butler was by far my favorite character, being the subservient yet powerful protector with a strong sense of honor trying to subtly cultivate such a principle in his young charge.
Sidenote: I was curious to see how Artemis would come off to me as a character now that I’m an adult and not reading this book as his peer. Would he seem bratty? Pretentious? Annoying? Immature? The answer is surprisingly, no? I can honestly say I can’t picture Artemis as a young boy reading this book—it is so hard to hear his dialogue in the pitched-up voice of a 12-year-old. This in tandem with Butler treating him largely as a superior (occasionally an equal) makes it just so challenging to actually imagine him as he is. My mental picture of Artemis is always teenaged, haughty, tinged with angst. It’ll be interesting seeing him as the age he is on the big screen, and hearing that dialogue from the mouth of an indisputably too-young child.
Ultimately, I still love the ride. I told Colfer when I met him that this series made its mark on me and definitely kept me voraciously reading as a kid, which is true, and I’m happy to say there is still plenty of fun to be had with book one, though I recall that the next two were my favorites of the lot, bar none. I’m looking forward to the movie, and only hope I’ll have the same praise for it when it hits theaters!
carlyxdeexx's review against another edition
3.0
The puberty focus of this sequel is all too clear from the get-go, and it might be this bit of heavy-handedness that really makes this my least favorite book of the series! I don’t think it’s awful, but it’s just a bit too hammy about the hormonal shift for my tastes. I wasn’t too fond of Colfer’s choices in regards to Minerva (and Cybelline, I think that’s the new centaur’s name). The demon world’s parameters and the demons themselves are pretty two-dimensional compared to the other fairy folk? Like usual, my favorite characters were the core ones who I‘ve been following since the beginning.
I love how different Artemis’s character is in this book, how far he’s come! Seeing Butler and Mulch and Holly again is wonderful. There are some particularly clever moments in Artemis’s plans that get me, as usual.
I love a good romance as much as the next gal, but I don’t know if even hinting at one is really in Colfer’s wheelhouse. Regardless, I love these characters so much it’s impossible not to enjoy the ride.
I love how different Artemis’s character is in this book, how far he’s come! Seeing Butler and Mulch and Holly again is wonderful. There are some particularly clever moments in Artemis’s plans that get me, as usual.
I love a good romance as much as the next gal, but I don’t know if even hinting at one is really in Colfer’s wheelhouse. Regardless, I love these characters so much it’s impossible not to enjoy the ride.
karrama's review against another edition
5.0
This is a great start to a decent YA series. Not too racy, has fantasy and tech. It's fun and the characters grow through the book and series.