Reviews

Meg Murry is bumbling through adolescence when her brother Charles Wallace opens her up to three mysterious neighbors, the sisters W - Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which. Together, along with Meg's friend, Calvin O'Keefe, they travel through the many dimensions of the universe in order to save Meg and Charles Wallace's father from IT, an overpowering, mind-controlling essence that controls it's people with the misfortune of sameness. Individuality is shunned and any divergence is harshly punished.

I really enjoyed this story. I'd been wanting to read it for a while, and finally bought the book when it came up as an assignment in my Library Science class. I found the story to be complex in places - pieces didn't always fit together to me, but then I don't normally read a lot of science fiction and I'm horrible in making my brain work in that direction, but the book was very quick and easy to read. It's mainly targeted towards children, and L'Engle sprinkled some great vocabulary words throughout the book to peek a child's interest in expanding their vocabulary. It's just enough to make a child interested in learning new words, but not so much that it will overwhelm them.

The characters are absolutely charming. L'Engle had a special way of bringing her characters to life. One of my favorite sections of the book illuminated Meg's defiance and resilience, accentuating the art of knowing with heart instead of knowing with eyes through the beasts in one of the universe's many dimensions. They have no eyes, therefore cannot understand the idea of seeing, which they actually find to be limiting to human kind. It's an interesting thing to think about. Throughout the book is weaved several references to L'Engle's faith, which seem somewhat out of place. Initially, the book does not come off as a story with a Christian theme, so whenever it does come up it seems a little forced. The Christian themes don't actually start to really feel like they have a place in the book until the end with the introduction of the beasts. However, if you really think about it, the three Sisters W seem kind of like the three Wise Men, so perhaps the inclusion of Christian themes isn't entirely out of place.

All in all, children and teens will love this book. It's adventurous and would appeal to lovers of Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and the Chronicles of Narnia. There are four other books in this Time Quintet series.

hmmiller's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

learrrs's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Loveable characters? No

2.0

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