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A review by mattbeatty
The Candy Shop War by Brandon Mull
3.0
(Disclaimer: we listened to this on CD, something I don't like to do, for the kids' sakes, while driving on our Memorial Day 2011 weekend trip through Moab and Canyonlands. Captivated nearly everyone--and much better than DVDs in my opinion.)
This was a very fun book. Good plot, with twists and turns to keep you guessing, a great classic idea adapted for modern young audiences. I like Brandon Mull's imaginative magical spins on the world. If these short sentences were my whole review, it'd be 4 stars.
However, I cannot *stand* his writing style. Saying he is overdescriptive is severe underexaggeration. Every single character is given very average first and last names. Every street is named, directions are always given. When looking through a window into a room or a library, every single item is catalogued in a neverending sequence. Adjectives fly endlessly all over the place. While this may be good for scripts and the screen, to help lay a distinct scene which ends up visual, it is too much for his novels (same with Fablehaven
, which I'm currently reading to the kids). I think he was writing this book with a film deal in mind (which he got), and if so, good for him, seriously. I think it could be translated better on film.
He uses literary gimmicks to keep the action moving and to keep from writing redundantly. He constantly begins sentences with present participles, many of them dangling. This was annoying--sorry.
Also, the themes already mentioned in previous review of lawbreaking, shadowed racism, and violence can be a little hard to swallow--in particular for me, the lawbreaking. It seemed just a little too easy for these kids.
I won't overanalyze the "bad examples" that may have been imparted. I want to give my kids a little credit, considering this book *does* occur in a fantasy world. (Instead, I'll overanalyze Mull's writing style--ha.) All in all, my kids loved it, and I thought it was fun and worth listening to.
This was a very fun book. Good plot, with twists and turns to keep you guessing, a great classic idea adapted for modern young audiences. I like Brandon Mull's imaginative magical spins on the world. If these short sentences were my whole review, it'd be 4 stars.
However, I cannot *stand* his writing style. Saying he is overdescriptive is severe underexaggeration. Every single character is given very average first and last names. Every street is named, directions are always given. When looking through a window into a room or a library, every single item is catalogued in a neverending sequence. Adjectives fly endlessly all over the place. While this may be good for scripts and the screen, to help lay a distinct scene which ends up visual, it is too much for his novels (same with Fablehaven
, which I'm currently reading to the kids). I think he was writing this book with a film deal in mind (which he got), and if so, good for him, seriously. I think it could be translated better on film.He uses literary gimmicks to keep the action moving and to keep from writing redundantly. He constantly begins sentences with present participles, many of them dangling. This was annoying--sorry.
Also, the themes already mentioned in previous review of lawbreaking, shadowed racism, and violence can be a little hard to swallow--in particular for me, the lawbreaking. It seemed just a little too easy for these kids.
I won't overanalyze the "bad examples" that may have been imparted. I want to give my kids a little credit, considering this book *does* occur in a fantasy world. (Instead, I'll overanalyze Mull's writing style--ha.) All in all, my kids loved it, and I thought it was fun and worth listening to.