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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Rather easy but wonderful. It actually reminded me of Harry Potter in places (in the quaint antiquity of the traders' market) and so I recommend it to the potterheads!
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Very good, hit all the right spots & did fill the Hogwarts hole for a read.
Ivy, 11 & her brother Seb, 14 are in hospital after their granma has a fall. The parents are on their way from jobs in London so the children go home... only to find the smell of wet dog in the house & 2 men arriving carrying what can only be described as toilet brushes?!
Yes, of course I was hooked. I had no idea what was going to happen next everything was crazy and new. Travelling through bags Ivy & Seb find themselves thrown in with a petty thief called Valiant Kaye in an underground London type trading place of uncommon things.
I would think it aimed at 9-12yrs as no rude words are in it, it's the Mum part of me thinking if my 8yr old is ready for it just yet, there is kidnapping and mild threat of violence if you count scratches on faces, the sonic punch drumsticks are cool, although the ghouls and other beings are mean the most horrid thing for me was a pulled off fingernail - yuck!
I think this is something special for readers. I will be looking out for book 2 for surely they need to return, the uncommon adventure has just begun!
The nearest books like this I have read are The Map Of Everywhere ( now a trilogy I must hunt down & finish) and John Masefield's The Midnight Folk as they also have unexpected things talking.
Ivy, 11 & her brother Seb, 14 are in hospital after their granma has a fall. The parents are on their way from jobs in London so the children go home... only to find the smell of wet dog in the house & 2 men arriving carrying what can only be described as toilet brushes?!
Yes, of course I was hooked. I had no idea what was going to happen next everything was crazy and new. Travelling through bags Ivy & Seb find themselves thrown in with a petty thief called Valiant Kaye in an underground London type trading place of uncommon things.
I would think it aimed at 9-12yrs as no rude words are in it, it's the Mum part of me thinking if my 8yr old is ready for it just yet, there is kidnapping and mild threat of violence if you count scratches on faces, the sonic punch drumsticks are cool, although the ghouls and other beings are mean the most horrid thing for me was a pulled off fingernail - yuck!
I think this is something special for readers. I will be looking out for book 2 for surely they need to return, the uncommon adventure has just begun!
The nearest books like this I have read are The Map Of Everywhere ( now a trilogy I must hunt down & finish) and John Masefield's The Midnight Folk as they also have unexpected things talking.
Excellent start to a new children's series that can be read by any age group. I have read a lot of these types of books in the past couple of years. Kids discover their family is magical, there is a magic land, and only they can solve the mystery. But, this book is very well done and I thoroughly enjoyed getting sucked into the world Ms. Bell has built and getting to know the main characters-siblings Seb and Ivy. For the most part the world is easy to comprehend. I had a tough time at the beginning grasping the idea of uncommon goods-but once I got further into the story it didn't seem so odd. The mystery is well developed and leaves room for plenty of follow-up books and the main characters act like they are 11 and 14. I'll be looking out for the rest in this series.
Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this work.
Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this work.
**I received this book from a giveaway from Goodreads**
I've read a few YA books over the past year, but I haven't picked up a book aimed at 9-12 year olds, so I wasn't entirely sure what to expect. As I started reading, it automatically reminded me of the Harry Potter series, which, shock horror, I was never fully invested in and never actually completed!!
Without going into too much detail on the plot, it is a highly imaginative, adventure story. I loved the protagonist Ivy... A strong, intelligent character who helped uncover her family's hidden secrets to save the day with her older brother. I was a huge fan of 'Molly Moon's Incredible Book of Hypnotism' as a child and she reminded me of her!
The storyline was quite dark in places... at one point the children are faced with the possibility of losing their parents... But I think younger readers would appreciate that it hasn't been dumbed down for their benefit.
I thought many aspects were cleverly thought out, for instance, I loved how common objects (i.e. an ordinary lemon squeezer) had other functions in the uncommon world. I also adored the fact that Scratch (a talking bell!) muddled up words in sentences because he was damaged... Such a sweet idea!!
The ending of the book has been left open for even more adventure, and I definitely think this would work perfectly as a series. I'll be honest, I probably won't read the next instalment because the genre is not to my taste, but it was nice to read something a bit different!!
I've read a few YA books over the past year, but I haven't picked up a book aimed at 9-12 year olds, so I wasn't entirely sure what to expect. As I started reading, it automatically reminded me of the Harry Potter series, which, shock horror, I was never fully invested in and never actually completed!!
Without going into too much detail on the plot, it is a highly imaginative, adventure story. I loved the protagonist Ivy... A strong, intelligent character who helped uncover her family's hidden secrets to save the day with her older brother. I was a huge fan of 'Molly Moon's Incredible Book of Hypnotism' as a child and she reminded me of her!
The storyline was quite dark in places... at one point the children are faced with the possibility of losing their parents... But I think younger readers would appreciate that it hasn't been dumbed down for their benefit.
I thought many aspects were cleverly thought out, for instance, I loved how common objects (i.e. an ordinary lemon squeezer) had other functions in the uncommon world. I also adored the fact that Scratch (a talking bell!) muddled up words in sentences because he was damaged... Such a sweet idea!!
The ending of the book has been left open for even more adventure, and I definitely think this would work perfectly as a series. I'll be honest, I probably won't read the next instalment because the genre is not to my taste, but it was nice to read something a bit different!!
I had really high hopes for this book. I'm always on the lookout for the next book that will give me the same cozy feelings that Harry Potter did but unfortunately, this was not one of those books. I won't go into too much detail, many of the other reviews already touched on the same issues that I had with it: I didn't enjoy the writing style, the pacing was pretty bad, the characters felt flat and un-relatable and overall, it felt like it was trying too hard to match the same quirky wit that Harry Potter had. Honestly, I wasn't even much fan of the world-building. At about 65% I pretty much skimmed the remainder of the book and will probably not be attempting a re-read.
Plot: 2/5
Characters: 1/5
Writing: 1/5
Atmosphere: 2/5
Overall: 1.5/5 (rounded up to 2 for goodreads)
Plot: 2/5
Characters: 1/5
Writing: 1/5
Atmosphere: 2/5
Overall: 1.5/5 (rounded up to 2 for goodreads)
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
"I need sugar to help me deal with that"
Perfect for children who seeks excitement and magic, this book has both. It's a typical fantasy book, in that there is a parallel world and once you pass through the portal, you're never quite the same.
I really liked that the book makes everyday objects seem to be brimming with 'magical' potential, like, if you use you're imagination, you too can discover the hidden properties of uncommon objects. It's a book where, if I had read it when I was little, I would definitely have picked up various objects and tried to find other uses for them. In short, it fires up your imagination and I loved that about it.
Perfect for children who seeks excitement and magic, this book has both. It's a typical fantasy book, in that there is a parallel world and once you pass through the portal, you're never quite the same.
I really liked that the book makes everyday objects seem to be brimming with 'magical' potential, like, if you use you're imagination, you too can discover the hidden properties of uncommon objects. It's a book where, if I had read it when I was little, I would definitely have picked up various objects and tried to find other uses for them. In short, it fires up your imagination and I loved that about it.
Plot
Eleven year old Ivy and her 14 year old brother Seb Sparrow start off this book rocketing through the streets of England in an ambulance. They deposit their fallen and semi-conscious grandmother at the hospital, then the pair returns home to find their house being searched a second time that night. After a chase by strange men, the siblings travel through an uncommon suitcase, with a mysterious boy and end up in Lundinor, a strange place with piles of things everywhere. [In my head I imaged the Trash Lady's lair from The Labyrinth, but inside a sewer system.] Joined by Valian, a suspicious older lad who frequently disappears, Ivy makes her way through Lundinor while Seb gets arrested and taken away. Ivy makes new friends with older, kindly women--one of whom is an uncommon button seller who conveniently knew her granma, and the other is an uncommon bell seller who was besties with granma--and both of these women are able to aid Ivy and her companions as they adventure through the city.
Of course, because they can't just have fun in a magical city, the siblings are descendants of one of the most wanted families in Lundinor, the Wrenchs. Their grandmother, however, has zero memory of this and cannot help them. The three kids are able to piece bits of information together about super-secret lost items that their grandmother was last seen with, all while being chased by mysterious bad guys who may or may not be dead and also happen to be holding the Sparrows' parents hostage.
Opinion
When I picked this book up, it looked quirky and cute. I'm drawn to cool art on covers and inside books. However, I quickly got annoyed by the rules and uncommon, or magical, objects that exist in this different world, and that the cover recommendation about half Tim Burton and half Rowling was only accurate on the Rowling part. I actually put it down and refused to read any more until OverDrive alerted me that I had auto-checked out the audiobook. I decided to give it another go, and was quite happy to hear one of my favorite audiobook narrators [Jayne Entwistle, who narrates for Sophia Kinsella and Alan Bradley]. At 1.6 speed, I was able to get through this book and actually start enjoying it!
Appropriate for 4th-7th
WASHYARG May 2017
Eleven year old Ivy and her 14 year old brother Seb Sparrow start off this book rocketing through the streets of England in an ambulance. They deposit their fallen and semi-conscious grandmother at the hospital, then the pair returns home to find their house being searched a second time that night. After a chase by strange men, the siblings travel through an uncommon suitcase, with a mysterious boy and end up in Lundinor, a strange place with piles of things everywhere. [In my head I imaged the Trash Lady's lair from The Labyrinth, but inside a sewer system.] Joined by Valian, a suspicious older lad who frequently disappears, Ivy makes her way through Lundinor while Seb gets arrested and taken away. Ivy makes new friends with older, kindly women--one of whom is an uncommon button seller who conveniently knew her granma, and the other is an uncommon bell seller who was besties with granma--and both of these women are able to aid Ivy and her companions as they adventure through the city.
Of course, because they can't just have fun in a magical city, the siblings are descendants of one of the most wanted families in Lundinor, the Wrenchs. Their grandmother, however, has zero memory of this and cannot help them. The three kids are able to piece bits of information together about super-secret lost items that their grandmother was last seen with, all while being chased by mysterious bad guys who may or may not be dead and also happen to be holding the Sparrows' parents hostage.
Opinion
When I picked this book up, it looked quirky and cute. I'm drawn to cool art on covers and inside books. However, I quickly got annoyed by the rules and uncommon, or magical, objects that exist in this different world, and that the cover recommendation about half Tim Burton and half Rowling was only accurate on the Rowling part. I actually put it down and refused to read any more until OverDrive alerted me that I had auto-checked out the audiobook. I decided to give it another go, and was quite happy to hear one of my favorite audiobook narrators [Jayne Entwistle, who narrates for Sophia Kinsella and Alan Bradley]. At 1.6 speed, I was able to get through this book and actually start enjoying it!
Appropriate for 4th-7th
WASHYARG May 2017