3.92 AVERAGE


I have yet to find a Cornelia Funke book I don't enjoy, and this is no exception. Though Funke has always been darker in her story telling this one is much darker. I am hoping that it is setting itself up for more books in this fairy tale land, but from the over all story I wouldn't be surprised if this is the way it ended as a stand alone book. In this book, you understand that there is no such thing as happily ever after, and that the fairy tales we believed are no where near true. One thing that makes this book good is Funke blurs the line between who is bad and good, and test your idea on who should be good in this book. I left the book feeling that the Goyl where not bad guys, but victims who learned to fight back. I would be happy to say that I would be ok with the Goyl's being the ones who win this war.

This is a book best read in quick succession with Reckless and Fearless, because it picks up right after Fearless leaves off and it does a disservice to this book to be trying to piece together things you don’t remember while reading it. Although it has been five years since I read Fearless, so it’s probably my own fault for not rereading the first two books before this one.

And since it’s been five years, I can’t really compare the characters to how they were in the previous books. And The Golden Yarn follows a LOT of them. Jacob and Fox, Nerron the Goyl treasure hunter, Will, the antagonist, the Dark Fairy, Kami’en the Goyl king, Jacob’s father …. There’s a lot of storylines woven through this book. (This is a book best read without distractions, otherwise it’s easy to get confused.)

The only characters I’m really going to touch on are Jacob and Fox, since they are the main protagonists and the bulk of the story focuses on them. And most of the other characters’ stories were more about plot than character, anyway.

Jacob’s theme for this book was “love.” His love for Will (and his desire to protect him) drove most of his actions, and his love for Fox drove most of his emotional arc. You still get some of his awesome treasure hunter-ness, but not as much. Fox took a bit of a back seat and ended up caught in a love triangle (which didn’t annoy me like love triangles usually do, but still).

The characters (even the minor ones) are all solid, but you really read a Mirrorworld book for the world – and the plot, which often ties in with the world. The world is enchanting and vivid and woven full of myths and magic. You get a lot in the previous books, but you get even more in this one – the characters cross multiple countries and the diversity of the magic and legends reflects that.

I want to say so much more about this book, but I don’t want to give any spoilers. This entire book is amazing. All of the subplots are fascinating and engrossing, the world is wonderful … it’s everything you want out of a Mirrorworld book. And I haven’t found anything about a sequel, but the ending of The Golden Yarn is too open-ended for this to be the last book. And besides, I want more.

Cornelia Funke is a master storyteller.

Cornelia Funke at her absolute best! Truly one of the best books I have ever read simply because of all the beautiful prose. If I could fit half as much meaning into one sentence as she could I would be content. Wow. Just. Wow.
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maa's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH

Ce livre est loin d'être une catastrophe. Seulement je dois avoir un problème avec la traduction, j'ai du mal à m'y retrouver dès qu'un dialogue commence, bizarrement. Pourtant l'histoire est tentante, les chapitres très courts, et j'aime beaucoup ces contes de Grimm qui s'immiscent dans l'univers parallèle, mais la vie est trop courte pour s'embêter. Dommage!