Review by librarymouse - The Museum of Extraordinary Things

librarymouse 's review for:

The Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman

4.5

adventurous emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

The Museum of Extraordinary Things was one of my favorite books as a teenager. I reread it recently to see if it's still holds up. I didn't remember Coralie being so religious as a child, though it tracks with the conservatism forced upon her by her father.

I didn't remember how it ended when I went into the book. I read another review or somebody said that the epilogue ruined it for them, but I think that might be the nicest way that Alice Hoffman could have tied up the loose ends. All Coralie ever wanted was to live a normal life. What she got was a normal life that she did not have to change herself to achieve, a husband who loves her, and a skill in fiber crafting that the part of herself she'd considered a deformity makes her exceptional at. I wish Maureen the world and then some. She's a wonderful character throughout the novel, but to know that she came to the professor beautiful and unscarred, and then stayed to raise Coralie after professor threw acid in her face makes her all the stronger mother figure, regardless of whether or not Coralie is biologically hers. I am glad for the implications in the epilogue that Eddie reconnected with his father and to some extent his religion.

Content Warnings