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3.69 AVERAGE
3.69 AVERAGE
adventurous
mysterious
tense
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
Being a bit of an archaeology nerd, I enjoyed the historical themes to the mystery in this one! :) There are plenty of new adventures and some fun new characters. Great for a rainy afternoon!
adventurous
mysterious
tense
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
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
The twelfth Nancy Drew adventure takes us back in time when Nancy is hired to help find a missing treasure. Mr. Drew is helping some men on a case and on the side they hire Nancy to help out with a corresponding mystery.
Every year a group of men find an adventure of their own, and this year they have chosen to go after the “message in the hollow oak” left by a missionary a long time ago. But they aren’t the only ones searching and soon Nancy finds herself mixed up with some not very nice men.
All the while, she has been invited on an archeological dig near the area she is searching for the message and befriends a great group of people more than willing to help her out.
This was a very fun adventure and I couldn’t wait to find out what happened.
Every year a group of men find an adventure of their own, and this year they have chosen to go after the “message in the hollow oak” left by a missionary a long time ago. But they aren’t the only ones searching and soon Nancy finds herself mixed up with some not very nice men.
All the while, she has been invited on an archeological dig near the area she is searching for the message and befriends a great group of people more than willing to help her out.
This was a very fun adventure and I couldn’t wait to find out what happened.
3 stars for nostalgia. Nothing particularly noteworthy about this Nancy Drew installment.
I struggled through this one, for a variety of reasons. Mostly ended it by just flipping pages, not really reading.
To begin with, the plot focuses heavily on a college archeology dig at a Native burial mound. My eye twitched a lot because of this. For two reasons: 1, I am the daughter of an archeologist who specializes in prehistoric America (aka pre-colonization America). As a result, I tend to get a little intense/picky over how archeology is treated in fiction, especially when it involves Native artifacts and land. 2, Earlier this week, the Mississippi Department of Archives and History completed the state's largest repatriation of Native artifacts and remains to the Chickasaw Nation. So reading about a whole bunch of white college students eagerly digging up Native American skeletons made me a little twitchy. A very dated look of archeology. Also, Bob Snell (important side character) is on the dig and states that he's an electrical engineering student. *inhale* THEN WHY THE HECK ARE YOU ON AN ARCHEOLOGICAL DIG, BUDDY? Though it DOES explain why Theresa (the professor in charge of the dig; +1 points for having a female archeology professor leading a dig) basically tossed equipment at Nancy and her friends and said 'Yeah, sure, you can totally play archeologist on my site'.
The plot was a treasure hunt but it seemed like this was definitely the book the ghostwriters struggled to keep things interesting because it's an over 300 year old treasure hidden somewhere and they're looking for a very specific hollow oak somewhere in Illinois. There's a lot of oak trees in Illinois. So, in no particular order, here's some of the crazy things that happen:
1: We'll start here since it's literally in the first chapter. This one, at least, was funny to me, a Nancy Drew game player. Because it's Nancy's first stuck-in-the-elevator moment. Which does nothing to advance the plot. Never comes back up. Just horrible Nancy luck. She definitely wasn't trying to climb out herself (boo!).
2: 2 different car crashes, same farmer's vehicles.
3: A log goes through the galley window on a boat while they're eating dessert.
4: George falls into the river.
5: Nancy gets an admirer... who is jealous of Ned. And Ned's cousin actually has a crush on this guy. Bess tries to intervene. It's a mess, that doesn't really get resolved? (Maybe it does? I don't know, I did say that I flipped through the pages of the last little bit of the book, I just wanted it over.)
6: And then there's Claire, whom Theresa (the PROFESSOR!) tells Nancy plainly "No one likes her". She's a little bit of a witch. She just likes to spew out incorrect information and literally everyone hates her and the feeling is mutual. I kept waiting for the plot twist where she was feeding information to Kit Kaddle the entire time, but nope. She was just your generic mean girl.
7: Oh yeah and some little kids stole the gang's lunch. At any given time, Bess exists to either complain about the lack of food or that her diet is being ruined.
Basically, this is a hot mess of a book.
To begin with, the plot focuses heavily on a college archeology dig at a Native burial mound. My eye twitched a lot because of this. For two reasons: 1, I am the daughter of an archeologist who specializes in prehistoric America (aka pre-colonization America). As a result, I tend to get a little intense/picky over how archeology is treated in fiction, especially when it involves Native artifacts and land. 2, Earlier this week, the Mississippi Department of Archives and History completed the state's largest repatriation of Native artifacts and remains to the Chickasaw Nation. So reading about a whole bunch of white college students eagerly digging up Native American skeletons made me a little twitchy. A very dated look of archeology. Also, Bob Snell (important side character) is on the dig and states that he's an electrical engineering student. *inhale* THEN WHY THE HECK ARE YOU ON AN ARCHEOLOGICAL DIG, BUDDY? Though it DOES explain why Theresa (the professor in charge of the dig; +1 points for having a female archeology professor leading a dig) basically tossed equipment at Nancy and her friends and said 'Yeah, sure, you can totally play archeologist on my site'.
The plot was a treasure hunt but it seemed like this was definitely the book the ghostwriters struggled to keep things interesting because it's an over 300 year old treasure hidden somewhere and they're looking for a very specific hollow oak somewhere in Illinois. There's a lot of oak trees in Illinois. So, in no particular order, here's some of the crazy things that happen:
1: We'll start here since it's literally in the first chapter. This one, at least, was funny to me, a Nancy Drew game player. Because it's Nancy's first stuck-in-the-elevator moment. Which does nothing to advance the plot. Never comes back up. Just horrible Nancy luck. She definitely wasn't trying to climb out herself (boo!).
2: 2 different car crashes, same farmer's vehicles.
3: A log goes through the galley window on a boat while they're eating dessert.
4: George falls into the river.
5: Nancy gets an admirer... who is jealous of Ned. And Ned's cousin actually has a crush on this guy. Bess tries to intervene. It's a mess, that doesn't really get resolved? (Maybe it does? I don't know, I did say that I flipped through the pages of the last little bit of the book, I just wanted it over.)
6: And then there's Claire, whom Theresa (the PROFESSOR!) tells Nancy plainly "No one likes her". She's a little bit of a witch. She just likes to spew out incorrect information and literally everyone hates her and the feeling is mutual. I kept waiting for the plot twist where she was feeding information to Kit Kaddle the entire time, but nope. She was just your generic mean girl.
7: Oh yeah and some little kids stole the gang's lunch. At any given time, Bess exists to either complain about the lack of food or that her diet is being ruined.
Basically, this is a hot mess of a book.
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The b plot with Art was laughable.
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This was a tedious story. The mystery(s) were choppy and pretty far fetched. Kadle was crazy obsessed with finding the treasure, yet he didn't find these two massive oaks with big lumps on them? He instead chops a newer oak into a mess? He decides to hire two thugs to harass Nancy and the archaeology crew? Please. The constant barraging of thieves at the dig site was not interesting, even with the walking skeleton. All that driving back and forth from the farmhouse to the town to make phone calls. And don't even get me started on the 'love triangle'! Ridiculous and unnecessary. Oh, here Art. Stand next to Julie Anne a couple of times so that you will like her more than Nancy. Then Bess and Nancy give each other a wink and a smile. Gah!
Additionally, as a fan of archaeology, I was sickened to see how anyone could just pick up a shovel and dig. Yes, I understand that this was a fiction novel. But the lack of order and methodical work on the site with the tiresome mystery storyline just killed the book for me.
The ONLY reason I finished the book was because I was reading it to my 5-year old and I didn't want her to give up easily. I would have tossed the book 3 chapters in.
Additionally, as a fan of archaeology, I was sickened to see how anyone could just pick up a shovel and dig. Yes, I understand that this was a fiction novel. But the lack of order and methodical work on the site with the tiresome mystery storyline just killed the book for me.
The ONLY reason I finished the book was because I was reading it to my 5-year old and I didn't want her to give up easily. I would have tossed the book 3 chapters in.