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kaziaroo's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
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? No
3.75
As one comes to expect with all Brandon Sanderson novels, this book has a complex and well thought out magic system which takes a lot of explaining to the reader. For the first part of the book I felt like I was back in the classroom learning about Rithmatics, but by the end I was fully into it and enjoy the Rithmatic combat and strategy. The illustrations were great, especially the little chalkling knights and unicorns – they reminded me of the pictures in Frugal Wizards. I took a while to warm to Joel as a protagonist, but I liked him well enough eventually and I loved Melody and their dynamic together.
There is perhaps too much learning to do in the book before things actually start happening, especially considering the target age group, and the book comes off as a bit preachy sometimes – it's clearly aimed at convincing teenagers to pay attention and try hard in school and respect others. I think it did well at that on the whole but was a bit heavy handed sometimes. It's definitely aimed at the younger end of the YA spectrum.
I really enjoyed the ending although I thought the Scribbler disappeared far too quickly – just one splash of acid and it was suddenly gone, without so much as a sentence to really describe what happened to it! It was quite disappointing but then I suppose it was never the true villain. The last page said "to be continued" but I'm not aware of a sequel yet which is a shame.
I recommend this for Brandon Sanderson fans or teenagers who want to be Brandon Sanderson fans but aren't quite ready for Mistborn. If you enjoyed the mystery and magic at school theme in this book, I recommend the Children of the Red King series by Jenny Nimmo.
There is perhaps too much learning to do in the book before things actually start happening, especially considering the target age group, and the book comes off as a bit preachy sometimes – it's clearly aimed at convincing teenagers to pay attention and try hard in school and respect others. I think it did well at that on the whole but was a bit heavy handed sometimes. It's definitely aimed at the younger end of the YA spectrum.
I recommend this for Brandon Sanderson fans or teenagers who want to be Brandon Sanderson fans but aren't quite ready for Mistborn. If you enjoyed the mystery and magic at school theme in this book, I recommend the Children of the Red King series by Jenny Nimmo.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Kidnapping, Murder, Blood, Death of parent, and Grief
Minor: Car accident, Child death, Colonisation, Sexism, Violence, Police brutality, and War
Regarding police brutality:
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