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4.1 AVERAGE
4.1 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Clive Barker has one impressive imagination. Very clever and unique story. "And best of all, love: love enough for a thousand Christmases."
My brother read this to me as a kid, and I always remembered it. I reread it and still loved it as an adult. :)
Wow, what a unique story. I enjoyed it as well as the lesson to enjoy the now!
A fun & creepy "portal fantasy" story. I LOVE the illustrations!
adventurous
dark
hopeful
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I didn't realize this was a children's novel until I was reading it.
I got a much more "adult" cover.
That being said--it was a good read, and I think child me would have loved it.
Spooky, tense, and humorous.
I got a much more "adult" cover.
That being said--it was a good read, and I think child me would have loved it.
Spooky, tense, and humorous.
adventurous
dark
inspiring
fast-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
I don't know why the first two times I've tried getting into the works of Clive Barker I've started with his middle grade novels. I've never really been a fan of YA or middle grade, especially now that I'm older, but yet here I am.
The Thief of Always is an updating of classic fairy tale tropes with a bit of a modern horror spin. Like it says in the subtitle, this is a fable about the nature of growing up, with the main character going through an arc has he learns responsibility and the importance of even the boring, mundane days of our lives. If we're constantly waiting for only the holidays or the vacations and try to skip past the dreary days, before you know it the important parts of your life have flown past you.
Barker's writing captures a 10 year olds perspective well, especially the melodramatic self-pitying of a child bored in February at the start, and I think he captures the capricious and perhaps at times selfish attitude that a child can have without them necessarily being malicious. Harvey has everything that is both bad and good in children, including a clever streak and a deep-seated desire to do the right thing. The villains are weird and memorable, with the Holiday House a good update of the classic witch's house found in Hansel and Gretel type stories.
However, I wasn't really wowed by anything, which I can't really hold against the book as I'm not the target audience (except for a single phrase that should have been caught in editing, "The swirling mists swirled around Harvey" or something along those lines). It's a decent enough book, and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys Coraline, which does much of the same thing that this book does but was released 10 years later.
5 out of 10.
The Thief of Always is an updating of classic fairy tale tropes with a bit of a modern horror spin. Like it says in the subtitle, this is a fable about the nature of growing up, with the main character going through an arc has he learns responsibility and the importance of even the boring, mundane days of our lives. If we're constantly waiting for only the holidays or the vacations and try to skip past the dreary days, before you know it the important parts of your life have flown past you.
Barker's writing captures a 10 year olds perspective well, especially the melodramatic self-pitying of a child bored in February at the start, and I think he captures the capricious and perhaps at times selfish attitude that a child can have without them necessarily being malicious. Harvey has everything that is both bad and good in children, including a clever streak and a deep-seated desire to do the right thing. The villains are weird and memorable, with the Holiday House a good update of the classic witch's house found in Hansel and Gretel type stories.
However, I wasn't really wowed by anything, which I can't really hold against the book as I'm not the target audience (except for a single phrase that should have been caught in editing, "The swirling mists swirled around Harvey" or something along those lines). It's a decent enough book, and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys Coraline, which does much of the same thing that this book does but was released 10 years later.
5 out of 10.