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saramackenzi 's review for:
When You Trap a Tiger
by Tae Keller
This magical realism story caught me a bit off guard because of the magic of it. I was a bit confused while reading as to whether the tiger was an allusion or not. As this story uses Korean folktales, I had thought it wouldn’t be an allusion but now I’m not so sure. Either way, I thought the use of the tiger along with the Korean folktales was done really well. While I know little about the culture’s folktales I found them super interesting and they were actually my favorite parts to read.
I was a bit worried at the beginning of the book because of all the aspects that were already put into play for our main character such as the tiger, the situation with her halmoni, her relationship with her sister, her trying to find friends, as well as having a parent that passed away. However, the author was able to mix all of these situations and create a really great story. I really didn’t expect to get teary-eyed from a MG story but here I was sniffling as I read the last chapter or two.
One thing I was a bit iffy about was Lily’s age. I don’t recall it being mentioned but I believe she was about to be going into 7th grade but at times she sounded much younger. I think this mainly has to do with the tiger and magical realism aspect of the story. Some of the comments Lily made about the tiger and ways of catching it felt odd for someone in middle school to be making, had her character been younger it would’ve made more sense.
I do wish there had been more details about a specific relationship that’s revealed at the end. There is a WLW relationship shown at the end and while I wasn’t surprised as I think the crumbs for it were laid throughout the story, I wish we could’ve seen more of it.
Now, this is just a side note but the cover is gorgeous and it’s what made me want to pick up the book, to begin with. If you’re looking for a book that includes Korean folktales as well as a Korean MC that has magical realism, I would definitely pick up this book. While it is a middle-grade book I wouldn’t let that stop you from giving it a try.
I was a bit worried at the beginning of the book because of all the aspects that were already put into play for our main character such as the tiger, the situation with her halmoni, her relationship with her sister, her trying to find friends, as well as having a parent that passed away. However, the author was able to mix all of these situations and create a really great story. I really didn’t expect to get teary-eyed from a MG story but here I was sniffling as I read the last chapter or two.
One thing I was a bit iffy about was Lily’s age. I don’t recall it being mentioned but I believe she was about to be going into 7th grade but at times she sounded much younger. I think this mainly has to do with the tiger and magical realism aspect of the story. Some of the comments Lily made about the tiger and ways of catching it felt odd for someone in middle school to be making, had her character been younger it would’ve made more sense.
I do wish there had been more details about a specific relationship that’s revealed at the end. There is a WLW relationship shown at the end and while I wasn’t surprised as I think the crumbs for it were laid throughout the story, I wish we could’ve seen more of it.
Now, this is just a side note but the cover is gorgeous and it’s what made me want to pick up the book, to begin with. If you’re looking for a book that includes Korean folktales as well as a Korean MC that has magical realism, I would definitely pick up this book. While it is a middle-grade book I wouldn’t let that stop you from giving it a try.