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avalinahsbooks 's review for:
How I read this: Free ebook copy received through NetGalley
This is a very traditional kind of middle grade story with an old-world sort of feel which is quite nice to read, although the story is a little bit anticlimactic.
I did like the feel very much. The story nails it just right - it feels so much like the books I read when I was a kid. There's just something indescribable in that, and I'm sure you know what I mean. And even though it's set in the present day, even phones are mentioned, everything has the old days' quaintness to it. Maybe it's the small town and life is still like that in smaller places. Or maybe the author just wanted to give it that vibe. But I loved it. It's a great world to escape to.
But there were a few things that fell just a little flat for me. One is that Arthur, the main character, is an incredibly upstanding boy - maybe even too much so. I feel like real life boys might have trouble relating to him. Not many preteen boys keep their room tidy 'as a pin', read books with a dictionary to challenge themselves and ask everyone how they can be helpful and how their day went. In fact, not many adults are this great at any of those things. I'm not sure I know anyone like that. More than that, this boy rationalizes his decisions (very well) and isn't afraid of truly scary things that in all honesty he should be afraid of very much, as a kid (or even just a human being.) He's just so perfect, too perfect. Felt like a very flat character to me. Kids have tantrums. Kids never care about others more than they care about themselves. Most people never see further than their own nose until they are in their late teens. Some never learn. This boy was basically a saint.
The other thing was that I was very disappointed with the bad guy. There was barely any of him in the story. More than that, I kept thinkingthe good guy was the bad guy because he was just so over the top (and I admit I would have loved the story so much more if the good guy turned out to be bad guy all along, haha! *disappears in a puff of smoke*) Without this, it just falls flat. The bad guy is beaten without barely any effort. It doesn't make for much of a culmination.
But the story is still pleasant to read and would engage middle grade readers, so I definitely don't regret reading it. It was sweet.
I thank the publisher for giving me a free copy of the ebook in exchange to my honest review. This has not affected my opinion.
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This is a very traditional kind of middle grade story with an old-world sort of feel which is quite nice to read, although the story is a little bit anticlimactic.
I did like the feel very much. The story nails it just right - it feels so much like the books I read when I was a kid. There's just something indescribable in that, and I'm sure you know what I mean. And even though it's set in the present day, even phones are mentioned, everything has the old days' quaintness to it. Maybe it's the small town and life is still like that in smaller places. Or maybe the author just wanted to give it that vibe. But I loved it. It's a great world to escape to.
But there were a few things that fell just a little flat for me. One is that Arthur, the main character, is an incredibly upstanding boy - maybe even too much so. I feel like real life boys might have trouble relating to him. Not many preteen boys keep their room tidy 'as a pin', read books with a dictionary to challenge themselves and ask everyone how they can be helpful and how their day went. In fact, not many adults are this great at any of those things. I'm not sure I know anyone like that. More than that, this boy rationalizes his decisions (very well) and isn't afraid of truly scary things that in all honesty he should be afraid of very much, as a kid (or even just a human being.) He's just so perfect, too perfect. Felt like a very flat character to me. Kids have tantrums. Kids never care about others more than they care about themselves. Most people never see further than their own nose until they are in their late teens. Some never learn. This boy was basically a saint.
The other thing was that I was very disappointed with the bad guy. There was barely any of him in the story. More than that, I kept thinking
But the story is still pleasant to read and would engage middle grade readers, so I definitely don't regret reading it. It was sweet.
I thank the publisher for giving me a free copy of the ebook in exchange to my honest review. This has not affected my opinion.
Book Blog | Bookstagram | Bookish Twitter