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annieice's Reviews (791)
This is a story about these siblings Leonie and Lionel (one obsessed with mysteries and the other who is younger just had to follow her sister up) who find this green case with some riddles and clues and well, of course, they want to find out what it means.
It's a simple story really, typical for kids and tweens set in the summer break. Lionel is autistic, but I'd say he isn't really well written in that aspect, because it feels stereotypical in being male and extra smart. He doesn't really act like one… and honestly Leonie's mystery obsessions to the point when she couldn't sleep felt more autistic than her brother who was kinda distant sometimes… weird.
The mystery was fun, though I saw it coming, but still fun. It's set in Australia during a visit of the fictional princess of Saudi Arabia (there's a real princess of Saudi but, this one is fictional, not the real one), and well that ties into the story. I found the absent parents kinda annoying, because they weren't around much during SUMMER break, and let the kids with this very incompetent babysitter, yikes. But as kids' stories go, it went all well in the end. A quick and enjoyable read, I recommend to 10-12 year olds who like mysteries.
It's a simple story really, typical for kids and tweens set in the summer break. Lionel is autistic, but I'd say he isn't really well written in that aspect, because it feels stereotypical in being male and extra smart. He doesn't really act like one… and honestly Leonie's mystery obsessions to the point when she couldn't sleep felt more autistic than her brother who was kinda distant sometimes… weird.
The mystery was fun, though I saw it coming, but still fun. It's set in Australia during a visit of the fictional princess of Saudi Arabia (there's a real princess of Saudi but, this one is fictional, not the real one), and well that ties into the story. I found the absent parents kinda annoying, because they weren't around much during SUMMER break, and let the kids with this very incompetent babysitter, yikes. But as kids' stories go, it went all well in the end. A quick and enjoyable read, I recommend to 10-12 year olds who like mysteries.
This was such a captivating book! I mean I read this in between school classes and I just couldn't wait to know what will happen and we'll find out next, which is a feeling I really like when reading books. If I'm not excited to get back to it, then it's a problem…
The story is told from two worlds and perspectives, Olivia who is a human from Earth, and Swatch from Ventropa. Though the book spends so much more spotlight on Olivia. As you'll find out later. So in this book's universe, the Earth has changed 15 years ago and now there's no sun or rain, it's just gray and drought, yuck. And when people dream they go to this other world Ventropa which is beautiful and very colorful. So our MC loves that place as it's a much more beautiful place than Earth, but then she meets some people and sees that both worlds are in danger of destruction, and she has to do something about it…
So without spoilers, the premise may not sound that different from other fantasy novels, but the idea of a world you go when you dream while your body stays, and that being accomplished by these technological, sci-fi stuff, I found it quite original. And there's a lot of mystery incorporated, as Olivia doesn't know who to trust, and doesn't know much either. And there were a lot of characters that I suspected for something, and my suspicions were wrong as it was someone/something else. Very well made! Though I wouldn't say I got shocked about the plot twists in the end. I'd just say that I liked some characters more than others, like Ben…
Anyways, I'd say this is a very beautiful and long book that is actually fast-paced, with a balance of more chill stuff and some action scenes, though I was kinda disappointed by the action at the end, I wanted our girl to do it something bigger. But maybe as it's supposed to be a trilogy, maybe she will? Though I don't think I'll read the rest, I feel like the ending was satisfying enough, and there's no point for me to read the sequels, though others may enjoy it, I simply don't have enough time as I have 1050+ books in my tbr… waiting to kill me…
The story is told from two worlds and perspectives, Olivia who is a human from Earth, and Swatch from Ventropa. Though the book spends so much more spotlight on Olivia. As you'll find out later. So in this book's universe, the Earth has changed 15 years ago and now there's no sun or rain, it's just gray and drought, yuck. And when people dream they go to this other world Ventropa which is beautiful and very colorful. So our MC loves that place as it's a much more beautiful place than Earth, but then she meets some people and sees that both worlds are in danger of destruction, and she has to do something about it…
So without spoilers, the premise may not sound that different from other fantasy novels, but the idea of a world you go when you dream while your body stays, and that being accomplished by these technological, sci-fi stuff, I found it quite original. And there's a lot of mystery incorporated, as Olivia doesn't know who to trust, and doesn't know much either. And there were a lot of characters that I suspected for something, and my suspicions were wrong as it was someone/something else. Very well made! Though I wouldn't say I got shocked about the plot twists in the end. I'd just say that I liked some characters more than others, like Ben…
Anyways, I'd say this is a very beautiful and long book that is actually fast-paced, with a balance of more chill stuff and some action scenes, though I was kinda disappointed by the action at the end, I wanted our girl to do it something bigger. But maybe as it's supposed to be a trilogy, maybe she will? Though I don't think I'll read the rest, I feel like the ending was satisfying enough, and there's no point for me to read the sequels, though others may enjoy it, I simply don't have enough time as I have 1050+ books in my tbr… waiting to kill me…
