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ambientsunset's review against another edition
2.0
I kept waiting for this to be good. it kept reminding me of Harry Potter, but it couldn't hold up. Maybe I gave up too soon, but I found myself not caring about what happens next.
kalake96's review against another edition
3.0
This book was pretty good, but not one of my favorites. I mean they fight nightmares and junk from the Nether.....its okay, i guess, and I plan on reading the second one.
cherylrainfield's review against another edition
4.0
Charlie’s imagination is so strong that when he has a nightmare, the nightmare creature gets portaled right into the room where he’s sleeping. This caused a lot of problems for Charlie, including his parents becoming both over-protective of him and very restrictive, isolating him from other people and children. People are afraid of him, and he doesn’t fit in anywhere. Charlie is very lonely, until one day some people come from the Nightmare Academy, a school that trains children with imagination to fight the monsters from the Netherworld. Charlie is one of the most powerful people at the academy, and he still doesn’t fit in–but he gains a few good friends and starts his training. He ends up having to fight powerful monsters, work to save his family, and deal with bullies. Through this, Charlie finds that he can use his imagination and self-doubt for good–and he can find his own place to fit in, after all. Don’t let the cover fool you–this is a funny, light-hearted fantasy.
Lorey opens the book by showing us how lonely and alone Charlie is, bringing instant reader empathy, and then quickly moves into zany humor. This humor and kookiness runs throughout the book; Lorey has a good sense of comedic timing. THe humor plus the array of characters who support Charlie and look out for him, help to bring lightness to the story. Although the monsters are presented as a threat, they never seem truly scary, and Charlie always overcomes or overpowers them. Even sections of the story that might take a much deeper, more serious tone in another book are suffused with lightness in this one, so the book feels like a pleasure read, never taking the reader to truly dark places or painful emotion. This is not a tension-fraught book. The fantasy explanations for some of the things that happen in the real world also add fun and lightness–such as Gremlins coming to Earth and eating up the power, creating rolling blackouts in New York and California.
You can read my entire review here.
Lorey opens the book by showing us how lonely and alone Charlie is, bringing instant reader empathy, and then quickly moves into zany humor. This humor and kookiness runs throughout the book; Lorey has a good sense of comedic timing. THe humor plus the array of characters who support Charlie and look out for him, help to bring lightness to the story. Although the monsters are presented as a threat, they never seem truly scary, and Charlie always overcomes or overpowers them. Even sections of the story that might take a much deeper, more serious tone in another book are suffused with lightness in this one, so the book feels like a pleasure read, never taking the reader to truly dark places or painful emotion. This is not a tension-fraught book. The fantasy explanations for some of the things that happen in the real world also add fun and lightness–such as Gremlins coming to Earth and eating up the power, creating rolling blackouts in New York and California.
You can read my entire review here.
missy06's review
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
alexa_ayana's review against another edition
3.0
Tiap orang pasti bisa berempati pada Charlie Benjamin yang selalu di hantui mimpi buruk siang dan malam selama 13 tahun hidupnya. Lagi pula itu bukan cuma sekedar mimpi yang hilang saat kau membuka mata, mimpinya membuka portal ke dunia monster, Netherworld!! Nasib Charlie pasti bakalan merana banget kalau saja dia tidak ditemukan oleh Rex si koboi tengil yang ternyata Banisher tangguh, rekannya yang cool Tabitha seorang Nethermancer dan Pinch Fasilitator mereka. Mereka bertiga membawa Charlie untuk mengolah ketakutan dan bakatnya menjadi kekuatan untuk menolong anak-anak lainnya di Nightmare Academy.
Anak-anak!! Itu kata kuncinya. Ini adalah buku anak-anak, jadi kalau kau pembaca dewasa cobalah menilainya dengan pertimbangan apakah buku ini akan cocok di baca oleh anak dan adikmu. Yea, tema, setting dan aura buku ini mungkin sudah sejuta umat, kamu akan bisa merasakannya dari buku-buku fantasy YA lain tapi buku ini tetap ditulis dengan kocak dan menghibur. Petualangannya seru dan punya alur cepat, Charlie dan 2 teman heroik dan menginspirasi. Konfliknya sederhana tapi tetap menegangkan koq. Jadi buku ini cocok untuk kamu yang suka buku-buku petualangan fantasy middle grade ringan dengan cerita seru yang lucu dan gak ngejelimet.
Anak-anak!! Itu kata kuncinya. Ini adalah buku anak-anak, jadi kalau kau pembaca dewasa cobalah menilainya dengan pertimbangan apakah buku ini akan cocok di baca oleh anak dan adikmu. Yea, tema, setting dan aura buku ini mungkin sudah sejuta umat, kamu akan bisa merasakannya dari buku-buku fantasy YA lain tapi buku ini tetap ditulis dengan kocak dan menghibur. Petualangannya seru dan punya alur cepat, Charlie dan 2 teman heroik dan menginspirasi. Konfliknya sederhana tapi tetap menegangkan koq. Jadi buku ini cocok untuk kamu yang suka buku-buku petualangan fantasy middle grade ringan dengan cerita seru yang lucu dan gak ngejelimet.
miziri's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
informative
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
lailalostinpages's review against another edition
4.0
I read this as a kid and I never continued on with the series and I probably never will but I still love this book.
mackle13's review against another edition
2.0
Other reviews have commented on some of the similarities between this book and Harry Potter, so I won't really dwell on those. I will say, though, that I did notice some of them - but that's not really the reason for my rating.
Mostly I just found the book kinda meh. For a book in which nightmares create conduits to the Netherworld which allows nasties to come through, everything was sort of rather tame. And the one event which evoked any pathos and connection with the story for me - i.e. when - was cancelled out by the end of the book (which I sort of suspected was going to happen when it happened, which also lessened any feelings I had regarding it.)
The characters aren't really developed, and the story's - well, it's fine. Everything about this book is fine. It's just that that's all it is, really.
(Oh, but the whole ranks things being broken into things like "noob" and "leets" was a pretty feeble attempt to be "hip".)
So 2-stars for "it was ok", and I probably won't bother continuing with the series, but I won't rule it out entirely, either.
***
Now, that said, there was something that kinda bothered me, and that was the sort of casual sexism.
And I don't mean Theodore and his whole "boys are way better than girls" thing and the whole "I'm going to be a Banisher 'cause Banishers fight and and boys are better at fighting" - because this is addressed in the story, and it's made clear that both boys and girls are equally split into Banishers and the Nether-teleporter peeps (whose name I can't remember), and the headmaster is a woman and a Double Threat to boot, so the story does try to make very clear that both boys and girls can do anything and everything, and it just depends on the individual.
And that's great.
But then it's sort of subverted by the bits of casual sexism which aren't pointed out and/or there to make a point. Like when Rex calls his female colleague "sweetheart" just to get her goat and sort of undermine her.
But, mostly, it's the little things like "you throw like a girl" and "boys don't cry" and other such types of comments.
I know some people are thinking at this point, "Ye gods and little fishes - it's a kids book! Stop trying to cram your nasty feminist agenda into every thing you read!"
But my point is that the book purposely makes a point of addressing these kinds of issues, and then turns around and undermines itself. It's annoying. *shrugs*
Mostly I just found the book kinda meh. For a book in which nightmares create conduits to the Netherworld which allows nasties to come through, everything was sort of rather tame. And the one event which evoked any pathos and connection with the story for me - i.e. when
Spoiler
Rex had to give up his memories of his parentsThe characters aren't really developed, and the story's - well, it's fine. Everything about this book is fine. It's just that that's all it is, really.
(Oh, but the whole ranks things being broken into things like "noob" and "leets" was a pretty feeble attempt to be "hip".)
So 2-stars for "it was ok", and I probably won't bother continuing with the series, but I won't rule it out entirely, either.
***
Now, that said, there was something that kinda bothered me, and that was the sort of casual sexism.
And I don't mean Theodore and his whole "boys are way better than girls" thing and the whole "I'm going to be a Banisher 'cause Banishers fight and and boys are better at fighting" - because this is addressed in the story, and it's made clear that both boys and girls are equally split into Banishers and the Nether-teleporter peeps (whose name I can't remember), and the headmaster is a woman and a Double Threat to boot, so the story does try to make very clear that both boys and girls can do anything and everything, and it just depends on the individual.
And that's great.
But then it's sort of subverted by the bits of casual sexism which aren't pointed out and/or there to make a point. Like when Rex calls his female colleague "sweetheart" just to get her goat and sort of undermine her.
But, mostly, it's the little things like "you throw like a girl" and "boys don't cry" and other such types of comments.
I know some people are thinking at this point, "Ye gods and little fishes - it's a kids book! Stop trying to cram your nasty feminist agenda into every thing you read!"
But my point is that the book purposely makes a point of addressing these kinds of issues, and then turns around and undermines itself. It's annoying. *shrugs*
mandi_m's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this. Charlie has terrible nightmares and strange things keep happening and then he discovers the mosters are real and he has been channeling them in the human world. He gets sent to THe Nightmare Academy and then the fun really begins!