Reviews

The Mostly True Story of Jack by Kelly Barnhill

theplantsalivesed's review

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3.0

I liked it, and I'm looking forward to reading more books by this author.

kidlitlove's review

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3.0

This was recommended to me by a 5th grader who loved it. I thought it was really weird. I guess I would give it to a good reader in 5th or 6th grade who really likes fantasy, magic, and mystery.

cornmaven's review

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3.0

I liked this treatment of creation mythology and the examination of the many selves of an individual human being. Even though I am not usually a fan of fantasy fiction, I stuck with it, I think because I cared about the characters and there was enough mysterious stuff that compelled to keep reading to "find out". I didn't like the names given to the Creator, i.e. She and the Other. It didn't seem reasonable that if this town had been dealing with her two selves for generations, that they wouldn't have come up with different, more definitive names.

I thought Barnhill got a bit too weird toward the end, but I did like the idea of Jack finally finding his true self, and how he was connected to everything. Plus the notion of selflessness that was implicit in the story. And I also think that fans of fantasy fiction probably would have like this one better than I did.

sarahvigue's review

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4.0

3.5

mbpartlow's review

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4.0

A YA book that grips you from the first pages. And yet, no sparkly vampires, no werewolves. Yay! The author does such a magnificent job of slowly building the tension, of letting the reader feel Jack's confusion right along with him.

I had to read it as fast as I could so that I could hand it to Nikki and demand that she read it!

gmamartha's review

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3.0

Another "weird" story.
The reader understands what's going on as Jack does, which sometimes can be very fragmented and resistant to the knowledge. (Exactly how I felt.)
Written well with great characters, I'm afraid "my" kids will think it's "too complicated" but the high school kids will think it's "too young."
We'll see.

thebrainlair's review

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3.0

3.5 stars

Despite a slow start and a tendency to go on a little long (what is with the length in some middle grade fantasy books) overall this was decent. It's a little too aware of itself with the Random Capital Letters and trying to be clever through repetition, and not getting to the story until about 3/4 of the way in, though you could guess what had happened.

Jack and Clive had clear, distinct voices but the rest were merely stand-ins especially Clayton, the town bully and Wendy the scrappy bully fighter.

hello_sunshine's review

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4.0

Very cool and creepy. I liked it a lot- part mystery and part paranormal. Unique story with really clever writing.

aoosterwyk's review

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2.0

I read this story in my search for a 6th grade read aloud. It would not suit them. This is a tale of deep magic and love and family, but to really get it, you need familiarity with the genre and a mature viewpoint. I think my students would still be waiting for something to happen after it was over and this is not a traditional A-Z plot.

I enjoyed the mystery surrounding Jack and how his odd little life slowly began to make sense. The small town is "owned" by the richest man in town, whose family has made a deal with the devil generations ago. People disappear and are forgotten and strange things happen and only a few people notice. It is these sensitive and "prickly" souls who made the book for me. These are the ones who welcome Jack into their community and help him figure out his true nature and purpose.

bunicole's review

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adventurous mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

It was intriguing at the start but as it went on it became tedious. It set up a lot of mystery but when it all came together, it fell flat, and didn't quite fit together. There were a lot of unanswered questions... I literally didn't understand the point of Anders' character, why was he in the book and why did he know so much about magic (he was obviously the author's favorite)??? And why did all the characters have British names??? There was a weird British feeling to the book which made the setting hard to grasp. And also, a lot of mentions of "swollen corn"...