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A review by vermidian
May Bird and the Ever After by Jodi Lynn Anderson
5.0
I actually picked this one up from a thrift store on a whim along with the second book and man, I was not disappointed. While I think I'd only give it 4.5 stars out of 5 if I had the option, rating it 5 stars would nudge the book closer to that rating than it's current community rating of 3.94.
I have to say, this was waaaaay darker than I anticipated it being for a kid's book. If you've ever played the game Don't Starve or if you've ever seen the Tim Burton-y style of weird art, that's how I pictured a lot of the ghosts and ghouls and creatures of the Ever After being like. At first, the world is truly kind of scary. The thirteen year old protagonist, May, is thrust into this world with almost no warning and everything she sees is either dead or has never been alive in the strictest sense of the word, usually with jagged teeth and distorted proportions. As you get used to it, it's not quite as frightening in the same way because so much of the world is like that.
A lot of stress is relieved as May gets used to it as well and makes friends along the way, something she didn't have back home. The character growth in the story is truly great. May goes from timid and lonely to bold and with a multitude of friends - albeit dead friends - in the course of a single book. She also grows to appreciate what she had and was overlooking. While I may not be a thirteen year old girl, I can definitely understand the fear of peers and the fear of an unknown future. I feel like this is definitely a good book for other children who are facing similar predicaments as it may be empowering to them, especially young girls who often have difficulty finding female protagonists in young adult literature.
I don't want to get too much into this review and spoil anything, but be advised that the plot does not resolve itself at the end of the book. Apparently it's a trilogy, so if you're planning on reading this and you hate to leave a story unfinished, I recommend just going ahead and getting all three books so you can read through them. Maybe you won't read the first book in a day like I did, but it's really nicely paced for a book.
I would recommend this to kids who like reading horror stories and stories of kids going on journeys through unseen worlds running parallel to the real one. Definitely take into consideration how prone you are to nightmares when reading this book, as some of the descriptions of creatures are kind of unsettling and some events are a little bit horrifying. If you really like Tim Burton, you'll probably enjoy this.
I have to say, this was waaaaay darker than I anticipated it being for a kid's book. If you've ever played the game Don't Starve or if you've ever seen the Tim Burton-y style of weird art, that's how I pictured a lot of the ghosts and ghouls and creatures of the Ever After being like. At first, the world is truly kind of scary. The thirteen year old protagonist, May, is thrust into this world with almost no warning and everything she sees is either dead or has never been alive in the strictest sense of the word, usually with jagged teeth and distorted proportions. As you get used to it, it's not quite as frightening in the same way because so much of the world is like that.
A lot of stress is relieved as May gets used to it as well and makes friends along the way, something she didn't have back home. The character growth in the story is truly great. May goes from timid and lonely to bold and with a multitude of friends - albeit dead friends - in the course of a single book. She also grows to appreciate what she had and was overlooking. While I may not be a thirteen year old girl, I can definitely understand the fear of peers and the fear of an unknown future. I feel like this is definitely a good book for other children who are facing similar predicaments as it may be empowering to them, especially young girls who often have difficulty finding female protagonists in young adult literature.
I don't want to get too much into this review and spoil anything, but be advised that the plot does not resolve itself at the end of the book. Apparently it's a trilogy, so if you're planning on reading this and you hate to leave a story unfinished, I recommend just going ahead and getting all three books so you can read through them. Maybe you won't read the first book in a day like I did, but it's really nicely paced for a book.
I would recommend this to kids who like reading horror stories and stories of kids going on journeys through unseen worlds running parallel to the real one. Definitely take into consideration how prone you are to nightmares when reading this book, as some of the descriptions of creatures are kind of unsettling and some events are a little bit horrifying.