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A review by debz57a52
Jack Frost: The End Becomes the Beginning by William Joyce
2.0
If you're a fan of the movie, this book is likely going to be your least favorite. Although Jack Frost is the focus of it, he is not exactly the Jack Frost of the movie. For me, this is fine - I've read all five books now and I'm on board with Jack's transformation and how his story in the movie and the books can be wedged together.
But this volume is about 45-50% flashback, as told through a story that Katherine tells from Mr. Qwerty, and therefore, it seems like a slog. These things already happened, and Katherine's story (and to a lesser extent, Jack's continuation of Katherine's story) fill in gaps in the timeline that are useful to know, yes. But these flashbacks, especially in such concentrated amounts, slow the plot down so much that it's not really fun reading the book. There's no forward motion. No new developments.
Plus, one of the things I love about the movie plotline is Jack finding his purpose, his "thing," and that whole discussion is really absent in this story of Jack. Actually, the Jack of the book seems considerably less "fun" than the Jack of the movie, although he is still thoughtful and clever and quick and brave.
Now that I've read all five books in this series, plus the other supporting picture books, I have to say that I see where all the different parts of each book got pulled into the movie plot. I originally thought the movie covered the first book or two, but no - it really covered all five books, but in a unique way, with some of the threads being pulled out of each book to make a new cohesive (and shorter) story of the Guardians. I wish I'd read the whole series before seeing (and loving) the movie - I wonder how it would color my feelings about these books, especially the last two. But I can't change time. This is my least favorite book in the series.
But this volume is about 45-50% flashback, as told through a story that Katherine tells from Mr. Qwerty, and therefore, it seems like a slog. These things already happened, and Katherine's story (and to a lesser extent, Jack's continuation of Katherine's story) fill in gaps in the timeline that are useful to know, yes. But these flashbacks, especially in such concentrated amounts, slow the plot down so much that it's not really fun reading the book. There's no forward motion. No new developments.
Plus, one of the things I love about the movie plotline is Jack finding his purpose, his "thing," and that whole discussion is really absent in this story of Jack. Actually, the Jack of the book seems considerably less "fun" than the Jack of the movie, although he is still thoughtful and clever and quick and brave.
Now that I've read all five books in this series, plus the other supporting picture books, I have to say that I see where all the different parts of each book got pulled into the movie plot. I originally thought the movie covered the first book or two, but no - it really covered all five books, but in a unique way, with some of the threads being pulled out of each book to make a new cohesive (and shorter) story of the Guardians. I wish I'd read the whole series before seeing (and loving) the movie - I wonder how it would color my feelings about these books, especially the last two. But I can't change time. This is my least favorite book in the series.