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oeolson's review
4.0
This book is awesome at being totally unpredictable and way better than I thought it was going to be.
rtimmorris's review against another edition
3.0
Maybe I should have actually read the dust jacket. The one blurb that I did read about this book did not mention anything about the main character's journey from our world to a fantasy Tolkien-esque world. If it had, I probably would not have been as jazzed as I was about reading it, nor as let down by The Other Normals as I was.
I can say that it is a decent (if predictable) character study of an awkward pubescent teen, and I would not hesitate recommend the book for libraries, it just was not to my own tastes. It is also a fast read (let's face it, this is really a 200-page book lightly sprinkled over 400 physical pages). The RPG aspect was original and had my interest right from the start, though did not go as far as it could have. I found myself writing a similar book in my head and imagining where I would take it. The dialogue was excellent, and the characters were easy to get to know.
Another case for needing half-star ratings (2.5 out of 5).
I can say that it is a decent (if predictable) character study of an awkward pubescent teen, and I would not hesitate recommend the book for libraries, it just was not to my own tastes. It is also a fast read (let's face it, this is really a 200-page book lightly sprinkled over 400 physical pages). The RPG aspect was original and had my interest right from the start, though did not go as far as it could have. I found myself writing a similar book in my head and imagining where I would take it. The dialogue was excellent, and the characters were easy to get to know.
Another case for needing half-star ratings (2.5 out of 5).
samuraijenn's review against another edition
3.0
This wasn't horrible, but it certainly wasn't Vizzini's best work by far. I think I was most dissaopinted because I had in my mind what I thought the book was going to do, and it instead went a very different direction. On top of it all, a lot of the characters didn't flesh out for me enough to care.
theangrylawngnome's review against another edition
I'm not quite sure why this one felt so flat and formulaic as I was reading it, but, well it did. Bailed at 24%. May try again sometime down the line.
As is my usual practice with DNF books, I leave no rating.
As is my usual practice with DNF books, I leave no rating.
mary_the_librarian's review against another edition
3.0
I was a bit disappointed in this book, but it was OK.
tashrow's review against another edition
5.0
Perry Eckert loves to play Creatures & Caverns in all of his spare time. He doesn’t have any friends to play the game with, so he just creates characters. When someone inspires him to create a character based on himself, he does. Of course the character differs in some ways, like his red skin, yellow hair and tail, but he is also not that strong, not that fast, but full of honor. Perry’s parents are worried about him being a social outcast, so they send him to summer camp. There, Perry is swept into a world where Creatures & Caverns is real! Even better, they need Perry to help them save their world. All it will take is Perry kissing the most popular girl at camp. No pressure.
Read the rest of my review on my blog, Waking Brain Cells.
Read the rest of my review on my blog, Waking Brain Cells.
melerihaf's review against another edition
2.0
I will preface this by saying that I am a nerd. I play LoL and Magic: the Gathering. I even won a Magic tournament a couple of weeks ago (and yes, I was super excited about it). So I was really hoping for something different from this book about a kid who plays C & C (which I thought was a clever name, btw). But as I read it, it felt too much like a Percy Jackson novel crossed with Diana Wynne Jones' Dark Lord of Derkhelm written by a very "writerly" writer. (Is that a word? There is such a thing as a painterly painter, so I'm using it.) I felt like the author wanted to be admired as someone who wrote teen novels literarily. I found it distracting and irritating and I finally gave up about halfway through.
ambassadorfae's review against another edition
3.0
This was waaaayyyy better than Be More Chill, but the pervasive sexism and objectification of women remains impossible to stomach. I wanted to like Perry so much. But his self-centered view on life and his consistent lack of empathy made him feel like more of a psychopath than a loveable dork. His enthusiasm for adventuring was born more from boredom, egotism and quest for glory than it was from an earnest desire to help. The glib violence was disturbing too, the obvious brainchild of someone who is/was willing to kill. I can't get on that wavelength. D&D references along the lines of Ready Player One, I am here for. I liked that he structured the whole thing like a campaign - you can almost count up the dice roles, xp, hp, charisma and damage. I liked the imaginative nature of the story. Ghetto camp made me a bit squeamish. Definitely more of a 2012 vibe than 2020. The romance aspect was a hot mess. No: you cannot get with a frog man and still be a contender. Sorry. As far as an arc for personal development...tell me again why his game was akin to smoking crack? Did we learn anything, Perry? Did we grow? Are we smarter now, braver now, better now? Or did we just do some stuff, get hurt, heal, and want to do more stupid stuff??