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A review by aprildiamond
The Box and the Dragonfly by Ted Sanders
5.0
A somewhat unexpected 5 stars. While I was reading there wasn’t a point when I thought “oh this is definitely a 5 star book” it was just like I got to the end and thought about it and it was the obvious decision.
A bunch of things I liked in this book:
The best types of villains are
1) Well-developed with a great redemption arc
2) Creepy ass bitches
We got the second one. And yeah, they were lowkey terrifying. I mean, you stick a huge thin stick man with incorrect finger joints on page 6 of a book, as he’s pretending to be nice but is instead threatening and who doesn’t know how to smile right, what do you expect me to do? Not be creeped out?
I really liked how the book was written. Also nothing was ever boring. It’s a long book but it’s kind of like a TV show. Things are always progressing, and we see the long term development of the characters as opposed to seeing them for only a short period of time. Definitely a different reading experience than what I’m used to.
Speaking of characters, yes. Because I love Horace and I (really) love Chloe but most of all I love their relationship because it is so dang wholesome. At the end I felt like I really knew them in real life. Glad this is a series because I could read about them for a long time.
More on characterization: Very interesting stuff going on with the mentor figures. Usually these roles are portrayed as very trustworthy and as people the main characters can always turn to. But here, they get called out for their shit and I don’t automatically trust them because we see that they’re human and make mistakes. I don’t know yet what their intentions are and I wonder if this is going to come back at some point
A bunch of things I liked in this book:
The best types of villains are
1) Well-developed with a great redemption arc
2) Creepy ass bitches
We got the second one. And yeah, they were lowkey terrifying. I mean, you stick a huge thin stick man with incorrect finger joints on page 6 of a book, as he’s pretending to be nice but is instead threatening and who doesn’t know how to smile right, what do you expect me to do? Not be creeped out?
I really liked how the book was written. Also nothing was ever boring. It’s a long book but it’s kind of like a TV show. Things are always progressing, and we see the long term development of the characters as opposed to seeing them for only a short period of time. Definitely a different reading experience than what I’m used to.
Speaking of characters, yes. Because I love Horace and I (really) love Chloe but most of all I love their relationship because it is so dang wholesome. At the end I felt like I really knew them in real life. Glad this is a series because I could read about them for a long time.
More on characterization: Very interesting stuff going on with the mentor figures. Usually these roles are portrayed as very trustworthy and as people the main characters can always turn to. But here, they get called out for their shit and I don’t automatically trust them because we see that they’re human and make mistakes. I don’t know yet what their intentions are and I wonder if this is going to come back at some point