The Thief Lord - Cornelia Funke

The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Set in contemporary Venice (around the time of both answering machines and cell phones), this is not exactly what I expected, which was a historical fantasy with lighthearted, adventurous thieving in it. What I got was a more realistic tale of runaways and orphans trying to make it in a contemporary city. Still, bonus points for Venice!

There was a little bit of thieving, but it was more desperate, the group of kids scraping by while living in an abandoned movie theater. It was sad, but heartwarming as well because of the friendships that they found. It honestly took me a while to warm up to it, until the second half when the focus shifted away from their sparse lives and into more of an adventure - what I'd been expecting in the first place.

There's a little bit of magic to it towards the end, enough to shake things up. There's payback that doesn't end up being malicious, and wishes coming true that end up not being quite what was hoped for. That made a bittersweet ending for some of the characters, and an arguably happy one for others, whether they deserved it or not. I like how it wasn't all black and white.

One drawback for me is that it was told in a very juvenile tone - it's definitely for middle grade readers. That, and some of the word choices in the translation didn't fit and were distracting (for example, "darn it" was used a lot). I'd probably give it 2 stars, given how much I don't usually enjoy contemporary, realistic stories. But it was good for its target age group, and I probably would have loved it when I was younger, so I'm bumping it up a star.

Review: A Wrinkle in Time

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



Many books for children are still magical for adults reading them without the benefit of nostalgia, but this was not one of those for me. Honestly, I found it simplistic and moralistic, and was surprised to find there was much more talking than anything else. I expected more adventure, more action, but everything that actually happens is through philosophizing. I thought it was kind of boring. Talk about bashing kids over the head with how they are supposed to behave in the guise of Science Fiction!

It's also not really about time travel so much as travel to other worlds. The worlds were interesting and sometimes creepy, as were some of the characters they met there. I liked Mrs. Whatsit and her companions. They were entertaining.

But the main characters were basically just led around and told to 'go there' without being given any idea what to do there, and then the final solution was a moral lesson. Not surprising for the time it was written, I suppose, but I expected more... something. Excitement. Action. Fun.

The main character is whiny in a stamp-your-foot kind of way. She's constantly throwing fits and lashing out because she doesn't understand things. And although she dutifully learns her lesson by the end, I found her annoying.

Would I have liked this if I read it when I was a kid? Maybe. But I don't think it would have lived up to the adventures of The Magic Faraway Tree.



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Review: Ella Enchanted

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Ella Enchanted is an entertaining fairy tale retelling of Cinderella, which I'm sure most people know already. I'm not going to say too much about it since it's so well known. The twists on the original tale are well done, and it's not too dark even though Ella goes through some terrible times. I thought the curse was a great way to explain the original magic of the fairy tale.

I had watched the movie version before reading the book, which is always dangerous. It's hard to stay interested if I already know what's going to happen. Thankfully, the book had quite a few differences so I could enjoy it. I do wish I'd been able to read this when I was younger, as it's exactly the kind of tale I would have loved as a kid. As an adult, "I liked it" is as far as I can go.



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Review: The False Prince

The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



The False Prince is one of those books where the reader is in the dark for a long time and doesn't realize the significance of many details until they finally learn a piece of the puzzle that puts everything that came before in a different light. This kind of book is usually clever, and I do love the way everything shifts and clicks into place in that one moment.

But, I also struggle with this kind of book at first because without the smaller clues I don't get hooked right away, and find that it's harder to hold my interest. I like to put things together myself and be invested in the journey. Once I get the coveted piece of the puzzle, I marvel at the cleverness, but I also lose something in not being able to appreciate it before I get there and not being included in the process of putting it together.

So, this is one of those books. Very clever, but I had to persevere a for a while before I really felt interested. There were secrets all over the place, but I didn't have access to any of them. All I had to keep me involved was the training of the boys and their growing tensions and intrigues. Not that these parts weren't fun, but I also kept wondering what the point was.

Once I got the point, my rating went up to 4 stars. For those of you who enjoy big twists that shed new light on the whole story, I think you'll love this.

One more note - I thought this was Fantasy going in, but so far there's no magic about it. I'm wondering if it's actually Historical Fiction?


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Review: The Farwalker's Quest

The Farwalker's Quest by Joni Sensel

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



The Farwalker's Quest is billed as a Middle Grade Fantasy, but aside from the age of the main characters (12), I really found it quite mature. It's grim (lots of death) and even gruesome at times, so I'm not sure I would recommend it for the younger Middle Grade readers. It's more adventure than introspection or romance, though, so I'm guessing that's why it's not classed as YA.

The story is set in the far future of Earth after a war of technology killed off most of the population. Technology is basically legend, and humans have returned to an isolated village sort of existence so it has more of a Fantasy feel than Sci Fi or Dystopia.

I really enjoyed the atmosphere of the world, and grew attached to the main characters. I'm looking forward to picking up the sequels sometime soon.



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Review: The Lightning Thief

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



My 9-yr-old nephew loved this series, and as I was reading it I could understand why. There's plenty of action and adventure, and the pacing jumps from action to action. As an adult, I did find it mildly entertaining, but I also found my mind drifting. For me, action on its own is too shallow. I need character development and relationships that evolve. I need characters who think a little bit. As a child, I enjoyed books that included those aspects as well, though, so I don't believe it's just that I've grown up. I never was a boy, so maybe that's it.

I did try starting the second book, but the action took right off again and I realized that I just wasn't interested enough. It made me tired.



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