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mthorley23 's review for:
The Whispering Skull
by Jonathan Stroud
Hmmm... 3.5 stars? 3.75 stars? 4 stars? I loved the first book. I enjoyed this book and I will eagerly await the next book. I love the main characters, including the whispering skull, and Stroud's overall writing style. I devoured the book in a day while my poor 9 month old stared at me from the floor, grinning in excited greeting whenever I would come up for breath. (Nah, she was mostly happy to crawl around tearing folded laundry out of baskets, unfolded laundry off the couch, garbage out of cans, Tupperware out of cupboards, and eating old food off of unswept floors.)
Things felt a bit more obvious in this book though. Like the author was using cliched descriptions to set moods and in creating other characters. Kind of like a melodrama. You know, a young strapping blonde protagonist stupidly decides to go down the dark and creepy alley, cue the scary music and leaves rustling in the wind, and the skinny bad guy with the black cape, slicked back greasy black hair and thin curlicue mustache jumps out from the bushes with a sneer . . . dun-Dun-DUN!!! Next thing you know, the good guy is tied to the railroad tracks and no one is going to save him in time, except that they do, just in the impossible knick of time and the bad guy is vanquished by his own hubris as he reveals his evil plot before tripping on his own sword so the good guys' hands stay all clean.
Okay, so I digress. It wasn't that bad. In fact there were some fun little twists and humorous fight scenes and I have read much much worse in the YA genre that actually deserve this kind of censure. It was pretty predictable though and the characters were pretty conveniently obtuse sometimes. I really did enjoy it, don't get me wrong! The quality of writing just wasn't quite there as it was with the first book.
I am also not comfortable with the occult stuff. Too dark and evil to gush positively about. It was a bit gruesome too. I didn't feel that way with the first book, which is one of the reasons I loved it so much. Thrilling without being gruesome or shrouded in evil.
And one more thing: has some higher authority officially redefined the word "nauseous" and not told me about it? This is the sixth book that I have come across recently that has used it incorrectly according to my understanding. I am disappointed in this author. I expected better. Unless, the word has really been redefined and I am now wrong.
So, there is my disjointed review for everyone's review.
Things felt a bit more obvious in this book though. Like the author was using cliched descriptions to set moods and in creating other characters. Kind of like a melodrama. You know, a young strapping blonde protagonist stupidly decides to go down the dark and creepy alley, cue the scary music and leaves rustling in the wind, and the skinny bad guy with the black cape, slicked back greasy black hair and thin curlicue mustache jumps out from the bushes with a sneer . . . dun-Dun-DUN!!! Next thing you know, the good guy is tied to the railroad tracks and no one is going to save him in time, except that they do, just in the impossible knick of time and the bad guy is vanquished by his own hubris as he reveals his evil plot before tripping on his own sword so the good guys' hands stay all clean.
Okay, so I digress. It wasn't that bad. In fact there were some fun little twists and humorous fight scenes and I have read much much worse in the YA genre that actually deserve this kind of censure. It was pretty predictable though and the characters were pretty conveniently obtuse sometimes. I really did enjoy it, don't get me wrong! The quality of writing just wasn't quite there as it was with the first book.
I am also not comfortable with the occult stuff. Too dark and evil to gush positively about. It was a bit gruesome too. I didn't feel that way with the first book, which is one of the reasons I loved it so much. Thrilling without being gruesome or shrouded in evil.
And one more thing: has some higher authority officially redefined the word "nauseous" and not told me about it? This is the sixth book that I have come across recently that has used it incorrectly according to my understanding. I am disappointed in this author. I expected better. Unless, the word has really been redefined and I am now wrong.
So, there is my disjointed review for everyone's review.