Reviews - Spoonbenders | The StoryGraph

638 reviews for:

This is a highly entertaining book about about a family which have powers (e.g. telekinesis, clairvoyance, astro projection). You follow members of the family from the viewpoint of each family member as you go through the story. This book is easy to read, narration is great (I read the audible version), characters are engaging, and the story is interesting. They have many humorous moments and dialogue. At points it feels like a coming of age story, others like a sci-fi movie, other times like a crime story. It’s a good book and worthwhile reading!

amn028's review against another edition

4.0

A fun, light read

aburnss's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous funny mysterious

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

On paper, Spoonbenders could have been a five star for me. The story follows a quirky family with complex relationships and supernatural abilities. We slowly unravel the history of the various characters as the story progresses. It is magical realism in a modern day setting culminating in a huge finale event.

Daryl Gregory did a fantastic job with the structure of the book. We alternate chapters between the perspectives of five different characters. It is enough to keep track of everyone involved and the scenarios and challenges of each character stay fresh, even while reading other characters. He also was able to incorporate plenty of historical flashbacks without distracting from the driving plot of the story, each side story felt relevant and like uncovering part of the mystery.

I enjoyed the start of the book, uncertain if the abilities of the characters were all slight of hand or if there was true powers at play. It was also fun to have each character have their own distinct ability that impacted their past, present, and future. I especially enjoyed

Buddy's power of living back and forward across his personal timeline. The outside perspectives of him doing crazy things to modify the house but everything pulling together in the final climax scene was fantastic.

There were, however, some specific parts of the story that pulled me out of it and made it fall short of a five star. The overall driving force of

the mob and owing money wasn't horrible in and of itself, but it did make the book feel less realistic to me and I didn't like the scenes of the mob torturing people for not paying them in some capacity. Maybe that is realistic but it wasn't for me.

The other bizarre inclusion was

Matty's method of tapping into his power, compounded and made worse by the fact that he was a teen turned on by his cousin. Sure.. no actual blood relation due to the prior marriage but WEIRD! And the "rules" he had (and struggled with) to not have dirty thoughts about her.. Idk just felt extremely unnecessary and gross.

Also

Buddy's love of his life being the proustite at the casino and Irene's relationship with her boyfriend were a bit spicier than I would have preferred.

The structure of the book and overall plot were creative and well done, the complexity of the familial relationships was balanced, and it was an enjoyable read.

fergle's review against another edition

4.0

funny lighthearted medium-paced

thegoldenquetzal's review against another edition

2.0

DNF. Dull.

patsypoo's review against another edition

2.0

Ugh! Fantastically boring. Not enough spoon bending and far too male centric for my taste. [b:Spoonbenders|32827398|Spoonbenders|Daryl Gregory|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1492697004s/32827398.jpg|53428144] was not for me.
Interesting premise but not executed very well. The plot d...r...a...g...g...e...d... and it seemed to be going absolutely nowhere until I was about 3/4 of the way through. The very end of it picked up a bit and that's when I wanted to see how it would finish.
The story is very convoluted. It goes back and forth between their present day (1995) and the past of each of the characters. Lots of threads of the story get introduced but it was hard to establish where they'd all fit. It's written pretty well but I didn't like the structure of it.
I didn't like any of the characters either. I love an unlikeable character but how am I supposed to give a shit about a selfish, deluded, irresponsible and pervy old man like Teddy? The only character I liked was Buddy but I didn't get enough of him.