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A review by kaadie
The Mystery of Black Hollow Lane by Julia Nobel
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
I'm aware that I am not the target audience for this book but I was once twelve years old and I think even at twelve this book would have annoyed me.
Ultimately the story is a collection of boring accounts of school peppered with cliches. But the thing that makes this book quite unpleasant is how slow and moronic the main character is. It really seems that the author doesn't trust her readers to understand the plot and consequently has all of the other characters tell the main character (or us the reader) what is going on, despite the clues being painfully obvious. Emmy literally doesn't figure out a single thing for herself and is really just strung along throughout the book, propelled by the action of other characters.
In all fairness the book isn't terrible but there is nothing unique or special about the premise of the story and the lack of interesting and vivid characters leaves the whole thing feeling quite bland.
Ultimately the story is a collection of boring accounts of school peppered with cliches. But the thing that makes this book quite unpleasant is how slow and moronic the main character is. It really seems that the author doesn't trust her readers to understand the plot and consequently has all of the other characters tell the main character (or us the reader) what is going on, despite the clues being painfully obvious. Emmy literally doesn't figure out a single thing for herself and is really just strung along throughout the book, propelled by the action of other characters.
In all fairness the book isn't terrible but there is nothing unique or special about the premise of the story and the lack of interesting and vivid characters leaves the whole thing feeling quite bland.