holly_moward 's review for:

Inkspell by Cornelia Funke

4.0

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Another nostalgia read for me, but one that holds up well. I loved the Inkheart books as a kid—pored over them obsessively, copied out the end-chapter illustrations in my notebooks, and was always mulling on the concept in the back of my mind. It's one of the solid YA books I read as a kid that I think influenced me to want to write as an adult. Reading this for the first time in my adulthood, I can really see how Funke shines as an author; she's not only good at writing a story that hangs well together, but her characters are so brave, kind, and believable—the perfect balance to strike for a children's novel, I think. I remember crying when Dustfinger sacrificed himself to save Farid at the end of the book—a moment that was so sad to my child self that I never gave Inkspell a reread, though I read Inkheart many, many times. Dragon Rider is another of her books that I loved back in the day, one that I'd enjoy reading again in adulthood if I could get my hands on a copy.

A bonus surprise in my copy of this book: a bookmark shoved in the middle dated March 26, 2009 (!) and titled "SAT Practice," followed by some poorly done math problems. Ah, so good to know my public school education will never really leave me.