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3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
This book does an excellent job of creating an alternate universe without weighing down the prose with long-winded descriptions of the surroundings. I was sad to get to the end! I was immersed in Rossamund's world. I loved the maps and drawings as well as the often tongue-in-cheek dictionary supplied in appendices. But I also wanted more from this book. Was it just a setup for the sequel? I'll let you know after I read Lamplighter!
I listened to the audiobook version, and it was done very well. The writing was lovely, but the characters and world-building seemed a little under-done to me. I would have preferred a little more depth in the first book of a series, but the author did a fine job of creating some mystery around the characters and plot.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This is such a cute story! At first I was worried, because after my first reading of Rossamund, I was afraid I wouldn't be able to relate to him, and therefore like him. I found I was able to relate to him a little bit, but I still ended up really liking the kid! The characters were great, the story, while not exactly bursting with action, was nevertheless a great read. I especially loved Europe and Fouracres and I hope to see more of them in the coming stories. Rossamund's world is a dangerous and completely amazing world, made even more mysterious by Rossamund himself and the strange...behavior he exhibits. Rossamund is a great traveling companion and I am looking forward to seeing more of his beautiful world with him.
I tried to like this book, but found it very hard to get into. It was very slow to begin and just didn't seem to be going anywhere much. Honestly, I didn't make it to the end.
This book reads like a script. It is obviously written with the screen in mind, as the way it flows is much like a film, and the speech would also be better suited to the screen. I say this because I'm studying screenwriting, and it read a lot like something that we would put in a script, only with a bit more telling the story than showing the story, but not much. This to me was a bad thing to do, and didn't work at all.
I find the accents to be a bit over the top, and very annoying to read, even if they are realistic. I spent far too much time trying to decifer what the character were saying, sometimes missing the point of it completely. I also found the names a bit irritating, a boy called rossamund, fine, but the other characters names just seemed to jar in my mind, and every time i read a name, i got distracted by it, and this became annoying quickly. some took a while to work out how you would say them, and others would just sound weird when i thought or said them. Like i said, i found the names too distracting, they didn't flow with the story.
So personally, I wouldn't recommend this, maybe if i'd persevered I would have enjoyed it, but there was just too much about it annoying me to keep me reading.
This book reads like a script. It is obviously written with the screen in mind, as the way it flows is much like a film, and the speech would also be better suited to the screen. I say this because I'm studying screenwriting, and it read a lot like something that we would put in a script, only with a bit more telling the story than showing the story, but not much. This to me was a bad thing to do, and didn't work at all.
I find the accents to be a bit over the top, and very annoying to read, even if they are realistic. I spent far too much time trying to decifer what the character were saying, sometimes missing the point of it completely. I also found the names a bit irritating, a boy called rossamund, fine, but the other characters names just seemed to jar in my mind, and every time i read a name, i got distracted by it, and this became annoying quickly. some took a while to work out how you would say them, and others would just sound weird when i thought or said them. Like i said, i found the names too distracting, they didn't flow with the story.
So personally, I wouldn't recommend this, maybe if i'd persevered I would have enjoyed it, but there was just too much about it annoying me to keep me reading.
quick read interesting story and characters fun although I wanted to kid to be more gustsy towards the end...but if there is another i would read it
This is a dark fantasy of a book, fairy tale with a twist of Dickens. This is apparently the first in what will be a trilogy or a series and it definitely left me wanting more. The characters are complex, often compelling and difficult to like all at once. The primary moral issue that this series is setting itself up to address is complex and resonates with many of our past and present-day moral quandaries as a world and a society. All in all, a fascinating book with a well-conceived world and corresponding lexicon. I'm looking forward to more.
Entertaining enough, but it took me so long to really become invested in the story. The world was written up from scratch, and, yes, it was an engaging puzzle having to decode different terms all the time. Just the same, this first book was be a bit of a chore-- a necessary and prolonged prologue-- for future installments that already have been set up like ducks in a row. So perhaps it will be worth it when I read the next one.
This first novel in the Young Adult 'Monster Blood Tattoo' series starts slowly - almost too slowly for a new series - but picks up to a nice clip a few dozen pages in. By the end of it, young Rossamünd, fresh from Madam Opera's Estimable Marine Society For Foundling Boys And Girls, has made several new friends and a surprising number of enemies, all before starting his new position as a Lamplighter for the Half-Continent Empire.
Remarkable about this series premiere are the supplements offered to flesh out Cornish's created world: There is a very extensive and elaborate glossary, numerous illustrations, and about a dozen area maps. All this, found even in the paperback version of the book, is enough for the most lore-crazed fan of Lord of The Rings, and the mix of European culture, imaginary beasts, and general steampunk weirdness offer some needed originality to the Potter-heavy universe of children’s publishing. Very enjoyable, with some surprising emotional revelations for characters major and minor, and a nice take on the idea of how a little cultural demonization can make monsters of us all.
Remarkable about this series premiere are the supplements offered to flesh out Cornish's created world: There is a very extensive and elaborate glossary, numerous illustrations, and about a dozen area maps. All this, found even in the paperback version of the book, is enough for the most lore-crazed fan of Lord of The Rings, and the mix of European culture, imaginary beasts, and general steampunk weirdness offer some needed originality to the Potter-heavy universe of children’s publishing. Very enjoyable, with some surprising emotional revelations for characters major and minor, and a nice take on the idea of how a little cultural demonization can make monsters of us all.