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3.64 AVERAGE
3.64 AVERAGE
I really enjoyed this, especially the illustrations.
3.5/5 I’ll put something more thoughtful together tomorrow. I went into this thinking it was middle grade when it really leans closer to children’s level, so I feel weird giving it a rating anyway. It was really quaint and atmospheric but I think it was just too surface level for me.
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Delightful and laugh out loud funny! Now onto the sequel!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ not what i was expecting but it was a cute light hearted story
This book was so fun to read! It occasionally reminded me of The Series of Unfortunate Events at times, which is why I think I liked it so much. There were some parts that did kind of bore me, but over all the characters, and the ILLUSTRATIONS (!!! So beautiful) continued to draw me in. Can't wait for book 2!!
adventurous
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
I really wanted to love this book.
The illustrations were absolutely brilliant. These are all incredibly well-done, award- winning Caldecott-level illustrations, for sure.
The book was really well written, in terms of word choice, dialogue, etc. (Re: "Free Brochure!" 🤣)
The characters were interesting.
However, and I realize now, this can be considered my fault, it was really missing the adventure I was looking for. It looks like that might be coming in the second book. It became obvious to me towards the end of the book that this was really just a book to introduce you to characters that something will eventually happen to. But it's also too important to note that the name of the book is The Doldrums. Doldrums literally means "a state or period of inactivity, stagnation, or depression".
Why was I expecting any adventure was beyond me. Though, it would have been nice.
The illustrations were absolutely brilliant. These are all incredibly well-done, award- winning Caldecott-level illustrations, for sure.
The book was really well written, in terms of word choice, dialogue, etc. (Re: "Free Brochure!" 🤣)
The characters were interesting.
However, and I realize now, this can be considered my fault, it was really missing the adventure I was looking for. It looks like that might be coming in the second book. It became obvious to me towards the end of the book that this was really just a book to introduce you to characters that something will eventually happen to. But it's also too important to note that the name of the book is The Doldrums. Doldrums literally means "a state or period of inactivity, stagnation, or depression".
Why was I expecting any adventure was beyond me. Though, it would have been nice.
This was such a delightful, whimsical read! It was like being a child again, flipping through this book and diving into the story. The illustrations throughout are also incredibly lovely and have a unique art style from other children's book illustrations that I've seen, which I think is really neat and added something special to the story as a whole. I'm giving four stars purely for how much fun this book was and how happy it made me.
While overall I adored this book, there were a few bones I had to pick with it, so excuse me while I get a bit critical now..
I will say I was pretty let down that the characters in this book didn't actually go on an adventure. Instead, through the entire book they just talk about going on an adventure and they forge a plan, but it ultimately just comes down to kids and their harebrained schemes and never actually ends up turning into anything more. Because of this too, the story feels like it drags on as you wait and wait in anticipation for an adventure to begin, and the story only keeps being prolonged because there's never that high point of an adventure taking off.
Okay, but...
Another minor detail that struck me as a bit odd is how vehemently Mrs. Helmsley is against Archer's grandparents and what they do. Despite living in this wonderful house filled with his grandparents' discoveries and artifacts from being world explorers, Mrs. Helmsley harbors such disdain for them, to the point where she doesn't want Archer to have anything to do with them for fear of him having their same "tendencies" of exploration and curiosity. She does everything in her power to hide any communication between them and Archer—she hides their trunks filled with their belongings that are delivered to their house, and as soon as she discovers Archer's personal collection of all the packages his grandparents sent him, she takes them away from him.
Not only is that just utterly cruel to forbid your child from keeping any memories of his grandparents, but it also just gets me thinking: how does Mr. Helmsley feel about all of this? Because they're his parents, after all, and he talks more fondly about them to Archer. So wouldn't you be feel pretty hurt or even somewhat miffed that your spouse is trying to paint your parents as these nonsensical, irresponsible people to your child and do everything in their power to erase your parents' existence? Especially given that you live in their old house filled with their discoveries? Isn't that just tarnishing their legacy in the end? Yet there doesn't seem to be ANY tension between Mr. and Mrs. Helmsley. Do they talk about this at all? Does it put a strain on their relationship, how she treats his parents and their son by extension? Maybe I'm just way overthinking all of this, but Mr. and Mrs. Helmsley's relationship feels just a bit off for this reason...and darn it, sometimes these are the things we need to know!
Another Note:
I'm somewhat confused by the title of this book, which is based on a newspaper in the story. It doesn't seem to hold any particular significance in the story either. It's just the name of their local newspaper, it's there in the story, but beyond that it doesn't really serve a higher, greater purpose within the story itself, not nearly enough to warrant it being the title of the book. So it's just a bit of an odd choice for a title...
While overall I adored this book, there were a few bones I had to pick with it, so excuse me while I get a bit critical now..
I will say I was pretty let down that the characters in this book didn't actually go on an adventure. Instead, through the entire book they just talk about going on an adventure and they forge a plan, but it ultimately just comes down to kids and their harebrained schemes and never actually ends up turning into anything more. Because of this too, the story feels like it drags on as you wait and wait in anticipation for an adventure to begin, and the story only keeps being prolonged because there's never that high point of an adventure taking off.
Okay, but...
Another minor detail that struck me as a bit odd is how vehemently Mrs. Helmsley is against Archer's grandparents and what they do. Despite living in this wonderful house filled with his grandparents' discoveries and artifacts from being world explorers, Mrs. Helmsley harbors such disdain for them, to the point where she doesn't want Archer to have anything to do with them for fear of him having their same "tendencies" of exploration and curiosity. She does everything in her power to hide any communication between them and Archer—she hides their trunks filled with their belongings that are delivered to their house, and as soon as she discovers Archer's personal collection of all the packages his grandparents sent him, she takes them away from him.
Not only is that just utterly cruel to forbid your child from keeping any memories of his grandparents, but it also just gets me thinking: how does Mr. Helmsley feel about all of this? Because they're his parents, after all, and he talks more fondly about them to Archer. So wouldn't you be feel pretty hurt or even somewhat miffed that your spouse is trying to paint your parents as these nonsensical, irresponsible people to your child and do everything in their power to erase your parents' existence? Especially given that you live in their old house filled with their discoveries? Isn't that just tarnishing their legacy in the end? Yet there doesn't seem to be ANY tension between Mr. and Mrs. Helmsley. Do they talk about this at all? Does it put a strain on their relationship, how she treats his parents and their son by extension? Maybe I'm just way overthinking all of this, but Mr. and Mrs. Helmsley's relationship feels just a bit off for this reason...and darn it, sometimes these are the things we need to know!
Another Note:
I'm somewhat confused by the title of this book, which is based on a newspaper in the story. It doesn't seem to hold any particular significance in the story either. It's just the name of their local newspaper, it's there in the story, but beyond that it doesn't really serve a higher, greater purpose within the story itself, not nearly enough to warrant it being the title of the book. So it's just a bit of an odd choice for a title...
I got so bored with this book and I don't even care what happens at the end.