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A review by faefolkreads
The Dragon in the Bookshop by Ewa Jozefkowicz
adventurous
medium-paced
3.0
<I>”People leave parts of themselves behind in the things and people they love.”</i>
This was a sweet middle grade adventure about finding yourself and learning to accept the help and support from those around you.
After his father passes away suddenly, Kon loses his ability to speak. He feels trapped and lost and can’t find the words to express himself anymore. One day when he is exploring the coast, he bumps into Maya, who’s chatter and acceptance begins to fill the space inside him, wanting to once more share his passions. So, after months of silence, he invites her to the place that reminds him of his father- his dads bookshop. When there, he opens and old book of fairytales and suddenly they find themselves within the story, in a medieval town that’s being terrorised by a dragon, and only they have the ability to save the town, which they must do before they get sent back to their world.
I found this quite an easy adventurous story, but it seemed to lack character depth. The characters all seemed very flat, and the story felt very convenient without needing much character input. It would have been nice to see Maya open up a bit more, and Kon deal with his grief rather then just shout in rage and then be okay?
I struggled slightly to place the age range for this story too, as the themes seemed to be aimed at 9+, but the lack of detail and depth in the story made it feel like a younger read 7+
But despite the hiccups, it was still and easy adventure I’m sure many will enjoy.
*** thank you to Netgalley and the author for a copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review ***
This was a sweet middle grade adventure about finding yourself and learning to accept the help and support from those around you.
After his father passes away suddenly, Kon loses his ability to speak. He feels trapped and lost and can’t find the words to express himself anymore. One day when he is exploring the coast, he bumps into Maya, who’s chatter and acceptance begins to fill the space inside him, wanting to once more share his passions. So, after months of silence, he invites her to the place that reminds him of his father- his dads bookshop. When there, he opens and old book of fairytales and suddenly they find themselves within the story, in a medieval town that’s being terrorised by a dragon, and only they have the ability to save the town, which they must do before they get sent back to their world.
I found this quite an easy adventurous story, but it seemed to lack character depth. The characters all seemed very flat, and the story felt very convenient without needing much character input. It would have been nice to see Maya open up a bit more, and Kon deal with his grief rather then just shout in rage and then be okay?
I struggled slightly to place the age range for this story too, as the themes seemed to be aimed at 9+, but the lack of detail and depth in the story made it feel like a younger read 7+
But despite the hiccups, it was still and easy adventure I’m sure many will enjoy.
*** thank you to Netgalley and the author for a copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review ***