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A review by dehavilland
Abarat by Clive Barker
3.0
I read the first Abarat book shortly after it was published some time in 2002 or 2003, when I was a young teenager and when I better fit its target audience. At the time, I loved it: the setting was a sweeping, vast landscape of unique islands with a cast of characters that were unusual and intriguing. (Plus I also enjoyed matching Barker's descriptions with the collage of illustrations on the front of the book and feeling like I was making progress the more illustrations I was able to match to named characters.)
The memory of how much I enjoyed this the first time around and the knowledge that two additional books have been published since -- which I haven't read -- prompted me to revisit the series some fifteen years later as an adult and unfortunately, I don't think it held up. While the uniqueness of the setting remains a fun journey, the simplicity of the writing style leaves me cold in a world where I crave more detail, more description and a more thorough understanding of what the characters are experiencing. Abarat was probably a memory better left undisturbed.
The memory of how much I enjoyed this the first time around and the knowledge that two additional books have been published since -- which I haven't read -- prompted me to revisit the series some fifteen years later as an adult and unfortunately, I don't think it held up. While the uniqueness of the setting remains a fun journey, the simplicity of the writing style leaves me cold in a world where I crave more detail, more description and a more thorough understanding of what the characters are experiencing. Abarat was probably a memory better left undisturbed.