Reviews

Greenwitch by Susan Cooper

betris's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

alyshadeshae's review against another edition

5.0

The Greenwitch (as a character) surprised me a bit, but I quite liked the idea of it. After this book, however, I can't imagine a purpose for it so I'm sure I won't see it again which is disappointing to me. :-(

salandis's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

rainbowjawn's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful fast-paced

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

4.0

rchluther's review against another edition

4.0

I read this series through every couple of years and this particular book grows on me more each time. I love Cooper's world and her characters! I love some of the ambiguity that lets me fill in the blanks, without being those huge holes that some authors think are such good ideas. Jane and the Greenwitch have such an amazing relationship. And the Drew kids getting used to Will is such fun. (I don't know why, but I had such a crush on Will when I was young, and this book makes me giggle whenever they talk about about his goofy looks.)

Update: As always, I like this book more every time I read it. As always I wish I was friends with Will and the Drews.

bluestjuice's review against another edition

3.0

Initially I did not know what to make of this - the third book in the series is where the disparate threads of the first two books join up, with all the major characters (that is, Will Stanton and the Pevensie Drew children) meeting and interacting for the first time. I found this weirdly disorienting, as the point of view takes us out of Will's head for the most part, making him suddenly a much more distant, collected, and capable Old One than he was shown during The Dark Is Rising. I was a bit disappointed that the initial tension and mistrust between the Drew boys and Will morphed indistinctly into a sort of mutual respect, rather than culminating in some sort of actual confrontation. The difference in the way Merriman treats Will vs. the other children is obvious, and perhaps with good reason, but it's so striking that it's not possible for the children not to realize they're being infantilized a bit, which seems rather unfair considering they do quite a lot of real work for the various quests, despite not being Old Ones themselves.

Anyway, my overall enjoyment of this was good - the greenwitch was regional and mythic but also mysterious, and it had a flavor of originality that I found sorely lacking in the second book, so it was a pleasant improvement.

el_entrenador_loco's review against another edition

adventurous 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? It's complicated

4.0

bluestarfish's review against another edition

4.0

The story continues... The Drew children are back in Trewissick and this time Will is there too. The grail has been stolen from the museum so the children are back on the case. The making of the Greenwitch is a local tradition where the village women make her and then she is released back to the sea when the men get back from fishing in the morning. The hot summer days sound amazing. But there is still the undercurrent of eeriness in this book too.

alongreader's review

4.0

Some of the covers for this book went really dark!

Book 3, and our two sets of heroes finally meet, with some misunderstandings about who's the hero and who's the tagalong. Will, at this point, is still veering wildly between 'normal child' and 'immortal warrior of the Light' and the Drews realise almost immediately that something is strange about him. Barney seems to randomly manifest some powers this time around as well, and Jane and Simon are stalwart as ever, with Merry appearing to be enigmatic at them from time to time.

If there's a hero of this book, though, it's Jane, who wins the day (oops, spoiler!) by simple human compassion, much as will happen again (oops, spoiler!) in Book Five (oops, spoiler!). (Let's be fair, the blurb fairly gives it away.) The childlike Greenwitch never fails to make me feel sorry for it.

This is the last time the Cornish influence is so strong - we're off to Wales for the last two installments - and I really enjoyed it. That kick of a last line, too!

yorkslass70's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.5