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A review by actuallyjusthanne
A Dictionary of Scoundrels by Beth Lincoln
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
On the surface, this book seems like the kind of thing that would be perfectly up my alley: a family with really specific names that plays by weird rules, living in a old-and-maybe-magical house, trying to find missing treasure throughout their house. Each of the members of the family/each of the characters has a name that describes their personality, and the main character Shenanigan, is the one who is trying to figure out her place in the world. Unfortunately, it fell a little flat for me.
There are so many parts of this book that I really like! The naming of new Swifts with the dictionary, the decennial family reunion, Aunt Schadenfreude who makes her family practice her funeral every week: so many aspects of this book were so quirky and fun! However, I never felt like I really connected with Shenanigan, which is what it all comes down to, in the end.
I had a really hard time working through this book: although it is technically middle grade, it is really dense, and the plot didn't move fast enough for me to be invested, and reading it from start to finish took me almost a month. A lot of big things did happen: a few murders, a full/human sized Scrabble game (one of my favorite parts of the book), someone's attic chemistry lab, and yet none of it grasped my attention. I'm not sure if it's because of the names, of the writing style, or something else, but I really was not connecting to this book.
I thought the whole concept of how language is used, and how words mean things until they don't, the exploration of names, words, and meanings, and the plot points had a lot of potential, but I just wasn't interested in this book.
There are so many parts of this book that I really like! The naming of new Swifts with the dictionary, the decennial family reunion, Aunt Schadenfreude who makes her family practice her funeral every week: so many aspects of this book were so quirky and fun! However, I never felt like I really connected with Shenanigan, which is what it all comes down to, in the end.
I had a really hard time working through this book: although it is technically middle grade, it is really dense, and the plot didn't move fast enough for me to be invested, and reading it from start to finish took me almost a month. A lot of big things did happen: a few murders, a full/human sized Scrabble game (one of my favorite parts of the book), someone's attic chemistry lab, and yet none of it grasped my attention. I'm not sure if it's because of the names, of the writing style, or something else, but I really was not connecting to this book.
I thought the whole concept of how language is used, and how words mean things until they don't, the exploration of names, words, and meanings, and the plot points had a lot of potential, but I just wasn't interested in this book.