Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

The Magician's Elephant - Gajah Sang Penyihir by Kate DiCamillo, Diniarty Pandia, Yoko Tanaka

1 review

thecriticalreader's review against another edition

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mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

0.75

Why I Read It: I picked up The Magician’s Elephant by Kate DiCamillo because I enjoyed her books when I was younger, so I wanted to explore some of her works that I haven’t read yet.
 
Blurb: 
An orphan named Peter visits a fortune teller, who tells him that his sister—who Peter has been told is dead—is alive, and that an elephant will lead him to her. Shortly thereafter, a magician summons an elephant during his show, who crashes through the ceiling of the theater. Peter vows to find the elephant so that he may reunite with his sister.
 
Review:
The Magician’s Elephant is written in an oddly stilted and repetitive style that does nothing but stretch out the length of a short, weak storyline. Since none of the characters acts like a real person, it is almost impossible to feel emotionally connected to the story in any way. The plot, which has elements of absurdism, is void of an impactful message because the characters have little agency: things happen because the author wants them to happen. I find it hard to see the child version of myself liking this book: not only is it emotionally inaccessible, but some of the words used are rather high-level for middle-grade readers. The only aspect of this book I can praise is the art by illustrator Yoko Tanaka, which is beautiful and haunting in a manner somewhat reminiscent of Laika Studio’s animation.
 
 
 
The Run-Down: 
You will probably like The Magician’s Elephant if:
·      You like fairytale-like stories with happy endings
 
You might not like The Magician’s Elephant if:
·      You dislike highly stylized writing 
·      You prefer character-driven stories 
·      You want to read a book with a logical plot/worldbuilding
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