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watermelleon's Reviews (254)
This book was a little bit hit and miss for me. Firstly, the art was undeniably INCREDIBLE, and probably why I gave it an extra star: it is truly the highlight of this tale. I did really like the characters as well, the snow white-ish queen was the sort of character that a lot of fairy tale retellings have been missing. HOWEVER, there was something off about the storytelling itself for me. I haven't read any of Gaiman's other works (although I certainly will), so I can't comment if this is usual for him, but something just seemed a bit disjointed for me. The premise was great, but I felt in parts the story was either incredibly rushed or too fleshed out which was quite a shame. Probably not one I would go on to buy and keep, but I would happily buy prints of every single page of the artwork.
I'm a first time reader of this, but am very familiar with the film adaptation. Similarly to the first book, there were quite a few plot holes and points where characters were not acting like themselves for the sake of plot development.
I do hope and believe these books will improve and develop as the series continues but this book was definitely not as good as the first, mainly because at times it seemed a bit without direction in terms of plot to me. Most of the characters still do not feel fully rounded to me yet, and I really feel under attached to them; Ginny especially who I was really hoping to get more from in the books has so far had a very minor undeveloped role, the only true emotional part about her feelings was spoken by someone else!
As a side note, I have been very underwhelmed by the female characters in general; the few that have appeared so far have very nearly always come across as annoying and whiny (except mcgonagal who comes across probably the best). It just seems to me all the powerful and brave characters seem to be male, and its wearing a bit thin on me. We have a Bad Guy, Headmaster, and even Mr Weasley who works a top job in ministry of magic while his wife stays at home! (not shaming stay at home mothers AT ALL, but have yet to see a single woman in a position of power yet.)
I'm very excited about where this series will go, but I am getting more and more reluctant to read them. We shall see.
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Question of the book: if the second year griffindor boys dorm has 6 people in it, how many students actually attend this giant school? my tiny-in-comparison highschool had about 1200 people and probably more students...
I do hope and believe these books will improve and develop as the series continues but this book was definitely not as good as the first, mainly because at times it seemed a bit without direction in terms of plot to me. Most of the characters still do not feel fully rounded to me yet, and I really feel under attached to them; Ginny especially who I was really hoping to get more from in the books has so far had a very minor undeveloped role, the only true emotional part about her feelings was spoken by someone else!
As a side note, I have been very underwhelmed by the female characters in general; the few that have appeared so far have very nearly always come across as annoying and whiny (except mcgonagal who comes across probably the best). It just seems to me all the powerful and brave characters seem to be male, and its wearing a bit thin on me. We have a Bad Guy, Headmaster, and even Mr Weasley who works a top job in ministry of magic while his wife stays at home! (not shaming stay at home mothers AT ALL, but have yet to see a single woman in a position of power yet.)
I'm very excited about where this series will go, but I am getting more and more reluctant to read them. We shall see.
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Question of the book: if the second year griffindor boys dorm has 6 people in it, how many students actually attend this giant school? my tiny-in-comparison highschool had about 1200 people and probably more students...
Update: I changed the rating from 4 to 3 stars because third book in and I've realised that I do not want to rate a book better than this one five stars as it stands. Maybe consider it a 3.5 as I believe I do prefer this one over the chamber of secrets)
Although I believe I did read a few books in the series when I was younger, this is certainly the first time I have ever read this book back to front. This was a lovely start to the series and I really did enjoy it, Certainly more so than the film which I knew every line to growing up. It was a great adaptation but after reading this I do feel as if I have been cheated all these years concerning the characters and their true personalities. In this book, Harry truly acts like a real english teenage boy: a moody character with the right balance of cheekiness and charm. Like I wish I could as a child, he fights back when he's treated badly. this just felt like such a comfort read and I loved every second.
I do wish to give my full honest opinions as a first time reader however. The Characterisation is certainly a highlight for me in the book as someone familiar with the films, but I did feel like some minor characters lacked a little bit of extra dimension. However, I expect that they will develop over the series. The book was very short and I do accept that this is a children's book, however with a fast paced fantasy series like this one I do believe Rowling could have added more length to the novel (500 page books like Redwall were marketed to the same age group) to make more pages for various events that sometimes felt a little bit rushed for me. (however I am a sucker for intense descriptions so might just be me.)
I also did find a few odd gaps in the storyline as well. might be a bit nitpicky, but this book did leave me with a few questions. Where did Ginny spend her christmas if all the brothers were at hogwarts and her parents were off to Romania? I did also find that a bit of a plot device just to keep the storyline going as it seemed a little bit out of character for such a close knit family to not be together over christmas.
also as much as I LOVED the addition of the bottles puzzle, I stopped reading to solve it myself, and was a bit disheartened to learn that the answer wasn't to be revealed in the book. One of the clues was a visual one, but it was solvable, and I do think it would have been nice to just say that Hermione picked up the third bottle from the left. speaking of the bottle: I did wonder for a moment that if the bottle was so small that only one person could drink from it, then how did quirrel get through? and even if he hadn't drank it all then they would have noticed that one was slightly empty? Basically I think there may be an issue with Rowling using plot devices to separate/keep characters together as the whole logic of everything gets muddled up.
THIS WAS A GOOD READ however. I REALLY ENJOYED IT, so please don't think I didn't. I just thought it would be interesting to add some balance to the conversation :)
Although I believe I did read a few books in the series when I was younger, this is certainly the first time I have ever read this book back to front. This was a lovely start to the series and I really did enjoy it, Certainly more so than the film which I knew every line to growing up. It was a great adaptation but after reading this I do feel as if I have been cheated all these years concerning the characters and their true personalities. In this book, Harry truly acts like a real english teenage boy: a moody character with the right balance of cheekiness and charm. Like I wish I could as a child, he fights back when he's treated badly. this just felt like such a comfort read and I loved every second.
I do wish to give my full honest opinions as a first time reader however. The Characterisation is certainly a highlight for me in the book as someone familiar with the films, but I did feel like some minor characters lacked a little bit of extra dimension. However, I expect that they will develop over the series. The book was very short and I do accept that this is a children's book, however with a fast paced fantasy series like this one I do believe Rowling could have added more length to the novel (500 page books like Redwall were marketed to the same age group) to make more pages for various events that sometimes felt a little bit rushed for me. (however I am a sucker for intense descriptions so might just be me.)
I also did find a few odd gaps in the storyline as well. might be a bit nitpicky, but this book did leave me with a few questions. Where did Ginny spend her christmas if all the brothers were at hogwarts and her parents were off to Romania? I did also find that a bit of a plot device just to keep the storyline going as it seemed a little bit out of character for such a close knit family to not be together over christmas.
also as much as I LOVED the addition of the bottles puzzle, I stopped reading to solve it myself, and was a bit disheartened to learn that the answer wasn't to be revealed in the book. One of the clues was a visual one, but it was solvable, and I do think it would have been nice to just say that Hermione picked up the third bottle from the left. speaking of the bottle: I did wonder for a moment that if the bottle was so small that only one person could drink from it, then how did quirrel get through? and even if he hadn't drank it all then they would have noticed that one was slightly empty? Basically I think there may be an issue with Rowling using plot devices to separate/keep characters together as the whole logic of everything gets muddled up.
THIS WAS A GOOD READ however. I REALLY ENJOYED IT, so please don't think I didn't. I just thought it would be interesting to add some balance to the conversation :)
fourth time reading this, first time as an adult: yet still wholeheartedly enjoyable.
In a way, I was really hoping this book didn't feel like a five stars so this review didn't appear to be so nostalgia driven. However, as I sank into these pages and rediscovered what this book does there was only one option, so I hereby present to you an extremely glowing five star review.
Rereading the thief lord after so many years had many expectations; possibly I had grown up too much for this book, the story wouldn't impact me the same, maybe the characters would come across as somewhat irritating and the passion for the book would not be there anymore. It was terrifying. What I received however was something that I could not anticipate: I had somehow forgotten, or maybe never even realised what the true message of this book was.
This book is dark at times. It tackles political and social issues, child homelessness and terribly cruel adults taking advantage of them. The protagonist characters are in realistically horrifying conditions, yet through a child focused lens you as a reader still see their fascination of living in a setting that feels magical despite their circumstances, and feel the safety they all feel living as a family unit under the roof of a dilapidated movie cinema. Every item of food they discover is described to you in vivid hunger, every stone statue feels so real that it could indeed move if you stood next to it. Although many have found the plot to be somewhat deceptive in terms of genre, in some ways this is a fantasy from the start.
The characters are all so fully fleshed out and so incredibly vivid. Many also are very polarising:
- The greedy money grabbing and pirate like Barbarossa and the rich yet giving Ida Spavento;
- The boy Scipio who wants to be an adult because it looks better and the runaway prosper that is forced into the grittiness of adulthood;
- The child who just wants a home and the one who is suited to living on the streets.
When I was younger, Scipio by far was my favourite character, but it's interesting to see that change only upon reading as an adult: Scipio offers a make-believe adventure but because of this he is an idiot! His perspective on the world is naive and he doesn't think through anything! Prosper however is very much an adult, not by choice but by circumstance: he doesn't have time to play along or he could put his young brother in danger. In childhood, I was taken by the adventure and the make believe, whereas this time around I just feel like he did not think a lot of things through well at all and is a bit of a brat. I mention this here because this plays out incredibly in the book!
I could write a whole book on this novel honestly. Few more pointers before this lengthy review ends:
-all of the street characters seem to be representatives of the types of kids that can be orphaned/homeless (the runaway child, the young adoptable child, the child of colour, homeless girl representing girls on the streets)
- to get a grip on how dark this gets, Hornet (the homeless girl character) at one point cries that she is being attacked by an older man on the street as a front for her friends to run away from an adult who is posing as a threat to them (like seriously jesus christ these characters are between 8-12)
- this book is seriously a modern day peter pan with a twist AND it references the book at a point which made me die inside so anyone who loves the book of peter pan should definitely enjoy this.
- the book title is extremely clever if you think about it after you read the book
- SO MANY TWISTS AND TURNS I DIE
- haven't even touched on victor yet but his pet tortoises and his bumblyness offered such a good amount of comedy relief that was much needed
- THERE WASN'T A ROMANCE PLOT. I was reading it and for some reason thought I remembered certain characters getting together but THANK GOD I prefer how everything happens so much more. it wasn't needed and works so incredibly well and while staying spoiler free the line (four is a great number don't you think) really felt like a nod to that and omygod feels
- the ending is SO GOOD. people get mostly what they want, but it is incredibly bittersweet as funke reminds us that in life sometimes when we get what we want it doesn't necessarily mean that everything will end up how we imagine.
Okay i'm done now. but please tho, the book. read it.
In a way, I was really hoping this book didn't feel like a five stars so this review didn't appear to be so nostalgia driven. However, as I sank into these pages and rediscovered what this book does there was only one option, so I hereby present to you an extremely glowing five star review.
Rereading the thief lord after so many years had many expectations; possibly I had grown up too much for this book, the story wouldn't impact me the same, maybe the characters would come across as somewhat irritating and the passion for the book would not be there anymore. It was terrifying. What I received however was something that I could not anticipate: I had somehow forgotten, or maybe never even realised what the true message of this book was.
This book is dark at times. It tackles political and social issues, child homelessness and terribly cruel adults taking advantage of them. The protagonist characters are in realistically horrifying conditions, yet through a child focused lens you as a reader still see their fascination of living in a setting that feels magical despite their circumstances, and feel the safety they all feel living as a family unit under the roof of a dilapidated movie cinema. Every item of food they discover is described to you in vivid hunger, every stone statue feels so real that it could indeed move if you stood next to it. Although many have found the plot to be somewhat deceptive in terms of genre, in some ways this is a fantasy from the start.
The characters are all so fully fleshed out and so incredibly vivid. Many also are very polarising:
- The greedy money grabbing and pirate like Barbarossa and the rich yet giving Ida Spavento;
- The boy Scipio who wants to be an adult because it looks better and the runaway prosper that is forced into the grittiness of adulthood;
- The child who just wants a home and the one who is suited to living on the streets.
When I was younger, Scipio by far was my favourite character, but it's interesting to see that change only upon reading as an adult: Scipio offers a make-believe adventure but because of this he is an idiot! His perspective on the world is naive and he doesn't think through anything! Prosper however is very much an adult, not by choice but by circumstance: he doesn't have time to play along or he could put his young brother in danger. In childhood, I was taken by the adventure and the make believe, whereas this time around I just feel like he did not think a lot of things through well at all and is a bit of a brat. I mention this here because this plays out incredibly in the book!
I could write a whole book on this novel honestly. Few more pointers before this lengthy review ends:
-all of the street characters seem to be representatives of the types of kids that can be orphaned/homeless (the runaway child, the young adoptable child, the child of colour, homeless girl representing girls on the streets)
- to get a grip on how dark this gets, Hornet (the homeless girl character) at one point cries that she is being attacked by an older man on the street as a front for her friends to run away from an adult who is posing as a threat to them (like seriously jesus christ these characters are between 8-12)
- this book is seriously a modern day peter pan with a twist AND it references the book at a point which made me die inside so anyone who loves the book of peter pan should definitely enjoy this.
- the book title is extremely clever if you think about it after you read the book
- SO MANY TWISTS AND TURNS I DIE
- haven't even touched on victor yet but his pet tortoises and his bumblyness offered such a good amount of comedy relief that was much needed
- THERE WASN'T A ROMANCE PLOT. I was reading it and for some reason thought I remembered certain characters getting together but THANK GOD I prefer how everything happens so much more. it wasn't needed and works so incredibly well and while staying spoiler free the line (four is a great number don't you think) really felt like a nod to that and omygod feels
- the ending is SO GOOD. people get mostly what they want, but it is incredibly bittersweet as funke reminds us that in life sometimes when we get what we want it doesn't necessarily mean that everything will end up how we imagine.
Okay i'm done now. but please tho, the book. read it.