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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
I read this at the recommendation of my teen after seeing the biggest wasp EVER. I’m allergic to bees so this was a bit freaky. And yet there were messages of good, evil, and making peace with fears that make this interesting. Plus, you’ll finish it in 2 hours.
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The Nest sets a high bar for itself: this a book for middle-grade readers about a kid with OCD who becomes convinced that a telepathic wasp queen is communicating with him through dreams, promising to "fix" his deathly ill baby brother. There are so, so many places where a novel with this premise could go horribly wrong, but author Kenneth Oppel is some sort of literary gymnastics champion and totally sticks his landing. The tone of book is perfect throughout; Oppel, to continue the gymnastics metaphor, maintains perfect balance between the emotional reality of what his protagonist, Steve, is experiencing and the fantastic -- and fantastically horrifying -- forces he's up against. This is a creepy, unsettling story, but like The Graveyard Book and Coraline before it, I feel like the way it confronts certain nightmare imagery will actually help kids understand fears they've already experienced -- and provide catharsis when Steve ultimately defeats his (metaphorical and not-so-metaphorical) demons. The Nest is an amazing novel -- vivid, fast-paced, and really about stuff in a way few adult novels are, or are so effectively. Parents should give this to their kids, and kids to their parents.
Wasn't my cup of tea. It was very slow paced, and I'm not all that into bees.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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:
Yes
This was a very strange little book. Had a very gripping story for the most part, but was still very odd.
This book was weird but that made it good. I did not expect it to end in the way that it did.
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
hopeful
mysterious
tense
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:
Yes
I really enjoyed this book and found it to be wonderfully creepy, but I wish I had been able to read it in one sitting instead of listening to it, missing the illustrations and being interrupted often. It still built very well and made you think and feel about what we do and what we would do seeking perfection. The tempo was great and the language and thoughts matched that of a kid Steve's age beautifully. The entire story was haunting and it leaves you with a tickle at the back of your neck, much like the feeling of a wasp brushing by.
I'm struggling to decide at what age I would want my child to read this. I'm thinking probably 24 would be ok, but they still might have nightmares. This is a story that will stick with you for a long time and you probably will never look at a wasp the same way again.
I'm struggling to decide at what age I would want my child to read this. I'm thinking probably 24 would be ok, but they still might have nightmares. This is a story that will stick with you for a long time and you probably will never look at a wasp the same way again.