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moochan's review against another edition
3.0
The book was overall enjoyable and mostly well-written. It would’ve had 4 stars but the race stuff was persistent throughout the book and I couldn’t in good conscience NOT take a star off. The racial bits came off as uninformed and a bit prejudiced, and the book didn’t even need it.
The race stuff was a little odd, and not really necessary for the book. There were plenty of other ways to describe a costume or disguise without making it completely based around race. In the book the kids were given “Melting Pot Mixers” that would alter their appearance. There was a moment where Pigeon declared “I was hoping for Black!” As if that race were a costume to put on-and that was what race was treated as throughout the book. That’s a little similar to Blackface-putting on the assumed features of another race to one’s own advantage.
Additionally, the author only ever described the race of people who weren’t white-implying whiteness to be the norm or standard. And the descriptions were also based on stereotypes and prejudice. Summer, when she had taken her Mixer, was described as Asian, Japanese, and Chinese-which are not the same thing. It didn’t really matter as long as the reader saw what they-and likely the author-thought someone of these ethnicities would look like. This oversight was never corrected or clarified, which tells me the author didn’t really care to specify.
To clarify, the author is NOT RACIST, nor is the book, but the way it deals with race was insensitive and uninformed.
Also the author really laid into the fact that Pigeon was chubby. Like…he went into detail about how he could never keep up with his friends and was embarrassed by his weight…but that was it. He never lost the weight or gained self confidence about it. He just…kept on the exact way he’d been. So I really don’t know what the reason for mentioning the weight was. Other than shaming him? Or allowing the reader to understand that…fat people have a hard time?? I really don’t know, but it just rubbed me the wrong way.
The race stuff was a little odd, and not really necessary for the book. There were plenty of other ways to describe a costume or disguise without making it completely based around race. In the book the kids were given “Melting Pot Mixers” that would alter their appearance. There was a moment where Pigeon declared “I was hoping for Black!” As if that race were a costume to put on-and that was what race was treated as throughout the book. That’s a little similar to Blackface-putting on the assumed features of another race to one’s own advantage.
Additionally, the author only ever described the race of people who weren’t white-implying whiteness to be the norm or standard. And the descriptions were also based on stereotypes and prejudice. Summer, when she had taken her Mixer, was described as Asian, Japanese, and Chinese-which are not the same thing. It didn’t really matter as long as the reader saw what they-and likely the author-thought someone of these ethnicities would look like. This oversight was never corrected or clarified, which tells me the author didn’t really care to specify.
To clarify, the author is NOT RACIST, nor is the book, but the way it deals with race was insensitive and uninformed.
Also the author really laid into the fact that Pigeon was chubby. Like…he went into detail about how he could never keep up with his friends and was embarrassed by his weight…but that was it. He never lost the weight or gained self confidence about it. He just…kept on the exact way he’d been. So I really don’t know what the reason for mentioning the weight was. Other than shaming him? Or allowing the reader to understand that…fat people have a hard time?? I really don’t know, but it just rubbed me the wrong way.
cohnl8599's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
kot_zbigniew's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
fast-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? No
4.0
c_n_noble's review against another edition
4.0
I've just started this book, but so far its not at all what I thought it was going to be-which is a fun thing! So far, so good! :)
simpliamber's review against another edition
4.0
Read it with my 10 yr old son. We both really enjoyed it. Fun and imaginative adventure. Love that there are thought provoking questions at the end of the book for my son and I to have discussions. We will be reading the next book in the series.
shaekin's review against another edition
4.0
This isn't my favorite book by this author, but it was still really good. The pacing was a little choppy at times, but a good story line and fun concept.
roshk99's review against another edition
3.0
Decent book by Mull. Doesn`t compare to Fablehaven, but still a good listen. The reader was also decent.
raquel_reading_stuff's review against another edition
5.0
This book is awesome! There's magic candy and reconnaissance and trickery and creative idea throughout the whole thing READ IT! There isnt that much violence, only pain darts and some guy gets shot in the leg but there are No gruesome details and it all happened to bad guys, so it's more acceptable. It's one of my favorite books and very exciting. Tis book isn't written in poetry or anything, but I'd rather read a good story with ok narration than a really boring one with awesome narration, which is sometimes why the book is boring. It's nothing like fake haven, but in a good way, meaning it's another totally creative and original idea.
bethgiven's review against another edition
3.0
This had the same sort of feel as the [b:The Mysterious Benedict Society|83369|The Mysterious Benedict Society (Mysterious Benedict Society, #1)|Trenton Lee Stewart|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1230379286s/83369.jpg|80497] with a few Harry-Potter-ish magical twists to it. While I don't think this was as good as the aforementioned children's lit (not enough character development being my biggest complaint), it was still a very enjoyable, imaginative read -- I was flying through the pages to find out what happened. I laughed out loud at a couple of the lines and thought the twists were fun; there were a few things I didn't see coming. I'm torn between giving this three stars or four ... and settling on three since I gave those similar books four-star ratings.