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joshperna 's review for:
Lucinda's Secret
by Holly Black, Tony DiTerlizzi
"Your kind wither in the blink of an eye." He leaned close to the bars of the cage and winked.
After randomly remembering how much I loved this book series as a kid, I picked up The Spiderwick Chronicles to see if it held up over the years, and I was pleasantly surprised. Cashing in on the children's-fantasy kick of the early 2000's, this heavily illustrated book is in the same fantastical vein of the Harry Potter series with the childish, macabre aesthetic of A Series of Unfortunate Events. Despite the intended audience, the only thing about this book that seems intended for children is its incredibly short length; everything from the illustrations, to the darker content of the book --even the vocabulary used in the narration-- seems intended for a young adult audience. The only downfall of the series, in my eyes, is that the short length (around 10,000 words a book) results in a very rapid rise-and-fall of plot climaxes. The series' final climax happens so quickly I almost missed it, which obviously mitigates whatever catharsis can happen for the reader. All in all, one of those series you'd like to keep around for whenever you have children.
After randomly remembering how much I loved this book series as a kid, I picked up The Spiderwick Chronicles to see if it held up over the years, and I was pleasantly surprised. Cashing in on the children's-fantasy kick of the early 2000's, this heavily illustrated book is in the same fantastical vein of the Harry Potter series with the childish, macabre aesthetic of A Series of Unfortunate Events. Despite the intended audience, the only thing about this book that seems intended for children is its incredibly short length; everything from the illustrations, to the darker content of the book --even the vocabulary used in the narration-- seems intended for a young adult audience. The only downfall of the series, in my eyes, is that the short length (around 10,000 words a book) results in a very rapid rise-and-fall of plot climaxes. The series' final climax happens so quickly I almost missed it, which obviously mitigates whatever catharsis can happen for the reader. All in all, one of those series you'd like to keep around for whenever you have children.