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kiikaridino's review
adventurous
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.5
kelseywho's review against another edition
4.0
I'm not gonna lie, the end of the Samuel Johnson series made me a bit weepy. Connolly reminds me a lot of Pratchett, and excels at creating these absolutely ridiculous characters that you don't even feel like you could possibly take seriously. And then you are crying about them.
karmakat's review against another edition
4.0
The conclusion of the trilogy. Well-written and good story. I'll be trying some of his adult fiction next.
mahaaudy's review against another edition
5.0
i don't understand why i could cry after a horror trilogy
woodge's review against another edition
4.0
This is the third outing for Samuel Johnson, a young boy with a faithful little dog named Boswell. In his first adventure, recounted in The Gates, the Large Hadron Collider opened a portal to Hell and lots of weird bad things happened and Samuel averted a catastrophe. Now he's got two ineffectual demons living at his house, Nurd and Wormwood. And the craziness returns. Also returning for the craziness is an ex-ice cream truck vendor who represents four larcenous dwarves named Jolly, Dozy, Angry, and Mumbles. The story isn't as coherent as The Gates, and Samuel often takes a backseat to the dwarves. But that's mostly okay as the dwarves are hilarious. I can't tell you how often I was chuckling at the absurd goings-on and bizarre dialog. But it was fun. If you're at all interested, you have to check out The Gates. As in the previous two books, this one is chock full of funny footnotes as well.
iraboklover's review against another edition
4.0
Here we go!!! The last book from The Gates Series. The Creeps, atau Yang Mengerikan menceritakan kisah tentang Samuel Johnson, seorang anak laki-laki, yang pada buku sebelumnya, berhasil kabur dari neraka, dan di buku sebelumnya lagi, berhasil menggagalkan invasi iblis ke bumi.
Hum..hum..masalah seharusnya selesai sih ya. Tapi, yah, tidak ada yang selesai kalau itu adalah soal pertarungan antara manusia dan iblis. Setidaknya jika salah satunya masih berada di bumi. Karena, meskipun Mrs. Abernathy sudah terpotong-potong sampai ke level atom di buku sebelumnya, setan tua itu masih menyimpan dendam yang amat sangat kepada Samuel dan teman-temannya.
Petualangan Samuel di buku ini lebih banyak misterinya bagaikan cerita detektif. Meskipun kasusnya tak rumit-rumit amat seperti kisah detektif yang sesungguhnya. Tidak susah menebak kenapa ada patung yang berpindah-pindah tempat di sepenjuru kota. Kenapa ada penampakan hantu di gedung-gedung buatan patung yang dulunya adalah seorang perancang gedung itu. Kenapa ada sekelompok ilmuwan yang menyamar menjadi penjual permen dan kenapa tiba-tiba, gedung tua Wreckit and Sons akan dibuka kembali dalam wujud toko mainan, mengingat reputasi gedung itu yang sama sekali berkebalikan dengan keceriaan yang ada di dalam sebuah...eh...toko mainan.
Asik sekali membaca buku ini meskipun juga semakin "menyebalkan" karena ada gambar vampir legendaris nan menyeramkan ikut nongol di buku ini. Nongolnya tak hanya sekali pula, hahhah. Benar-benar mengerikan, seperti judul bukunya.
Tapi jangan lupakan catatan kaki nan kocak itu. Catatan kaki yang masih setia menemani dan mampu membuat kita tersenyum di tengah-tengah serbuan berbagai entitas yang sepertinya tak senang melihat ada kebahagian dan cahaya di bumi.
Dan romansa antara Samuel dan dua teman ceweknya manis atau bisa dibilang lucu sekali. Hihihi. Sayang teman Samuel yang satunya, Tom, tidak ikut berpetualang di toko mainan.
Kedua polisi juga masih ada. Kelakuan Konstabel Peel di bab yang berjudul "Ketika Konstabel Peel Meneteskan Air Mata Tidak Bahagia" dijamin membuat ngakak, wkwkwkwk.
At last, buku ini diakhiri dengan ending yang sedikit bitter sweet kalau menurut saya. Jadi sedih berpisah dengan mereka semua. Penantian menunggu lanjutan buku The Gates selama kurang lebih 8 tahun terbayarkan sudah. So, 4 dari 5 bintang untuk buku ini. I really liked it.
Hum..hum..masalah seharusnya selesai sih ya. Tapi, yah, tidak ada yang selesai kalau itu adalah soal pertarungan antara manusia dan iblis. Setidaknya jika salah satunya masih berada di bumi. Karena, meskipun Mrs. Abernathy sudah terpotong-potong sampai ke level atom di buku sebelumnya, setan tua itu masih menyimpan dendam yang amat sangat kepada Samuel dan teman-temannya.
Petualangan Samuel di buku ini lebih banyak misterinya bagaikan cerita detektif. Meskipun kasusnya tak rumit-rumit amat seperti kisah detektif yang sesungguhnya. Tidak susah menebak kenapa ada patung yang berpindah-pindah tempat di sepenjuru kota. Kenapa ada penampakan hantu di gedung-gedung buatan patung yang dulunya adalah seorang perancang gedung itu. Kenapa ada sekelompok ilmuwan yang menyamar menjadi penjual permen dan kenapa tiba-tiba, gedung tua Wreckit and Sons akan dibuka kembali dalam wujud toko mainan, mengingat reputasi gedung itu yang sama sekali berkebalikan dengan keceriaan yang ada di dalam sebuah...eh...toko mainan.
Asik sekali membaca buku ini meskipun juga semakin "menyebalkan" karena ada gambar vampir legendaris nan menyeramkan ikut nongol di buku ini. Nongolnya tak hanya sekali pula, hahhah. Benar-benar mengerikan, seperti judul bukunya.
Tapi jangan lupakan catatan kaki nan kocak itu. Catatan kaki yang masih setia menemani dan mampu membuat kita tersenyum di tengah-tengah serbuan berbagai entitas yang sepertinya tak senang melihat ada kebahagian dan cahaya di bumi.
Dan romansa antara Samuel dan dua teman ceweknya manis atau bisa dibilang lucu sekali. Hihihi. Sayang teman Samuel yang satunya, Tom, tidak ikut berpetualang di toko mainan.
Kedua polisi juga masih ada. Kelakuan Konstabel Peel di bab yang berjudul "Ketika Konstabel Peel Meneteskan Air Mata Tidak Bahagia" dijamin membuat ngakak, wkwkwkwk.
At last, buku ini diakhiri dengan ending yang sedikit bitter sweet kalau menurut saya. Jadi sedih berpisah dengan mereka semua. Penantian menunggu lanjutan buku The Gates selama kurang lebih 8 tahun terbayarkan sudah. So, 4 dari 5 bintang untuk buku ini. I really liked it.
dorky_cinnamon's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
informative
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
This third book is not as funny as the second book, but it still makes you giggles & laugh. The footnotes in this third book are not as many as in the second book, but they're still informative and hilarious. As the last book of the trilogy, this book has a beautiful and touching ending. I love it.
drewsof's review against another edition
4.0
A delightful installment, wrapping up several threads from the previous two books while also striking out into new(ish) territory. Samuel and his friends continue to grow and develop organically and the focus never shifts too far from ensuring that the story, however simple, is well-told. There are some great laughs, a couple great frights, and the whole thing ends up being something really solid: the sort of book I hope, someday, to read to my kids - knowing it'll entertain us all equally.
More at RB: http://ragingbiblioholism.com/2014/10/20/the-creeps-samuel-johnson-3/
More at RB: http://ragingbiblioholism.com/2014/10/20/the-creeps-samuel-johnson-3/
annarocks's review against another edition
3.0
Thank goodness this was the last Samuel Johnson book. I don't think I could be bored any more with any more stories.
davidareyzaga's review against another edition
3.0
Connolly has an incredible sense of humor and I appreciate him for that. However, when a story really starts halfway through the novel, the large setup doesn't feel worth the time, especially considering the pay off. Maybe the entire story could have been told in two novels. After all, the only characters that truly matter occupy one third of this book. This is not a universe (or multiverse) that I'm particularly interested in knowing in detail. Granted, the ending is very sweet, but that could have also been obtained at the end of the second novel if they had added 100 pages more without having to deal with so many secondary characters that are hardly worth anyone's time except for the fact that they're funny. At the end of the day, this is the story of Samuel, Nord, Wormwood, Mary, the Great Malevolence, and Mrs. Abernathy. I really didn't need the rest of them to feel connected to the story. Anyway, I guess it's a good starter trilogy for teenagers who might find themselves reading one day the far superior work of David Wong in his main series (and only in that series since Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits has similar problems), or, as many people have pointed out, it's good for people who enjoy Eoin Colfer. Personally, I abandoned Atermis Fowl's adventures as well since book series tend to lack a focused story, and include many underdeveloped characters just for the sake of building a universe, when the story of the only character or characters who are fully developed can be told in a single book if you remove all the extra noise. So far, A Series of Unfortunate Events seems to be one of the only series that manages to get things right when it comes to keeping the eyes set on the goal and avoiding pointless distractions.