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3.11 AVERAGE
3.11 AVERAGE
rosstanley's review against another edition
challenging
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
ingedingen's review against another edition
5.0
I was mesmerized by the beauty of this book, and found that I could identify with the joys and pains and confusions of all of the main characters, in the different stages of their life. Quite a feat, I don't know how the author managed it.
Reading some of the reviews, I nearly did put the book to one side when I was 1/3 through. I am glad I did not. This is not a dark book, and it is not about child abuse. It is magical, painful, and sometimes funny. The main characters are all courageous in their own way, they try so hard to do things right.
I love the way all the threads of the story were woven into a fairy-tale like detective. Wonderful.
The end, I thought, was beautiful and vulnerable and hopeful.
Reading some of the reviews, I nearly did put the book to one side when I was 1/3 through. I am glad I did not. This is not a dark book, and it is not about child abuse. It is magical, painful, and sometimes funny. The main characters are all courageous in their own way, they try so hard to do things right.
I love the way all the threads of the story were woven into a fairy-tale like detective. Wonderful.
The end, I thought, was beautiful and vulnerable and hopeful.
jo961blue's review against another edition
4.0
What a wonderful book. The story is about a girl immortalised in books by her father. The books are said to hold the key to a treasure and the girl’s life is stifled by the “tourists” who flock to catch a glimpse. Bit by bit the layers of the treasure are revealed. The story is layered in so many ways, dark at times, but finely detailed and ultimately rewarding. I loved it.
red1176's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
1.0
I have never, ever given a book such a low rating but holy moly... I couldn't wait to finish this book. It took a long time to get into it and when things finally started coming together the last 20% of the book goes off on a completely different tangent! Who the hell is Stacy and is she real or not? Weird ending too.
yvetteadams's review against another edition
4.0
I liked the secluded little world created by the author and she writes well. The subject matter is not quite what you'd expect from the title - it's sad, with a sad ending, but I was intrigued throughout the whole book.
stuartjrodriguez's review against another edition
2.0
I really wanted to like this one; I was hoping for something in the vein of The Ten Thousand Doors of January. The writing is solid and protagonist Romilly Kemp feels pretty well-characterized, but the novel’s central mystery never really grabbed me. I also have some questions about the author’s treatment of mental illness—I initially thought this novel was going to dive into the supernatural, but once I realized this novel was going to stay relatively grounded, it actually felt like there were a lot of moments in the novel where it felt like the reader was supposed to question Romilly’s sanity. Meh!
chryscurl's review against another edition
2.0
The cover is beautiful, and the synopsis promises delights. But in reality it's dark and twisted, a malignant fairy tale, and not in a good way.
It almost reads as a schizophrenic nightmare; a coming of age story about a young girl with deep rooted psychology issues, due to abandonment and the trauma of seeing her father's decline into alzheimers.
The sad thing is that the illustrations and books that the author conjured in my mind sounded beautiful, I'd love to see them brought to live. The cover was such a tease. I was really hoping for a more delightful and whimsical story, but this was a struggle to read.
It almost reads as a schizophrenic nightmare; a coming of age story about a young girl with deep rooted psychology issues, due to abandonment and the trauma of seeing her father's decline into alzheimers.
The sad thing is that the illustrations and books that the author conjured in my mind sounded beautiful, I'd love to see them brought to live. The cover was such a tease. I was really hoping for a more delightful and whimsical story, but this was a struggle to read.
bambiann's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This book captivated me; I just couldn't put it down. It's a coming-of-age story about little Romilly, who becomes the subject of her father's novels and faces the challenges of becoming 'famous' during the peak of their popularity and the aftermath that follows. The book dives into some pretty deep issues, like mental illness, a well-meaning single father, an absent mother, death, child neglect, family secrets, and a child who unfortunately falls through the cracks of the system.
Overall, I recommend the book. It's a powerful read that might be challenging at times, but it's definitely worth it. It's one of those stories that sticks with you long after you've finished reading.
**Possible trigger warnings**
Dementia, Mental Illness, Child Neglect, Animal Cruelty, Death
**Possible trigger warnings**
Dementia, Mental Illness, Child Neglect, Animal Cruelty, Death
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Dementia
Moderate: Animal cruelty and Abandonment
Minor: Child death
emilybakes's review against another edition
3.0
This is a difficult book to review... I won it in a Goodreads giveaway, which I entered because from its description I thought The Book of Hidden Wonders would be the perfect book for me! I love stories about books, treasure hunts, magical childhoods, etc. When I got the book and went on Goodreads to mark it as "currently reading" I noticed there were lots of negative reviews! Some mentioning animal abuse and child abuse. Yikes.
I decided to give it a chance, and for the first several chapters I thought it was wonderful even if it was a little strange. The writing is unique and descriptive (almost overly so) and I could imagine the detailed paintings that accompanied Romilly's father's stories. Sometimes the descriptive writing was a bit much... For example, I didn't need the dog's testicles to be described to me. That added nothing to the story.
There were several oddly dark or just weird things (the abuse of animals included) that I suffered through, thinking that surely this is going somewhere. In the end it just all felt so unnecessary though, and I don't understand why that had to be in there. It's possible there is a deeper symbolism I am missing, but I can tell you that it just felt sad and uncomfortable to read. The problem is that the title, the cover, and even the description seem to advertise a book with a very different mood and that could be why some reviewers were so disappointed.
The actual treasure hunt/family secret portion of the plot was interesting and made it worth the read for me, but I just wasn't expecting something so dark and sad. I gave it 3 stars because the writing is very good and I know lots of people that love this kind of story.
Mild Spoilers for content warning:
There is animal abuse. The cat suffers an injury but survives. I was expecting worse for the cat after seeing the reviews and I was worried about it the whole time. There are other disturbing animal scenes with some snails, and another with a bird. Feel free to message me or ask in the comments if you want more details.
I decided to give it a chance, and for the first several chapters I thought it was wonderful even if it was a little strange. The writing is unique and descriptive (almost overly so) and I could imagine the detailed paintings that accompanied Romilly's father's stories. Sometimes the descriptive writing was a bit much... For example, I didn't need the dog's testicles to be described to me. That added nothing to the story.
There were several oddly dark or just weird things (the abuse of animals included) that I suffered through, thinking that surely this is going somewhere. In the end it just all felt so unnecessary though, and I don't understand why that had to be in there. It's possible there is a deeper symbolism I am missing, but I can tell you that it just felt sad and uncomfortable to read. The problem is that the title, the cover, and even the description seem to advertise a book with a very different mood and that could be why some reviewers were so disappointed.
The actual treasure hunt/family secret portion of the plot was interesting and made it worth the read for me, but I just wasn't expecting something so dark and sad. I gave it 3 stars because the writing is very good and I know lots of people that love this kind of story.
Mild Spoilers for content warning:
There is animal abuse. The cat suffers an injury but survives. I was expecting worse for the cat after seeing the reviews and I was worried about it the whole time. There are other disturbing animal scenes with some snails, and another with a bird. Feel free to message me or ask in the comments if you want more details.