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zasou_reads's review against another edition
3.0
This was a little too young for my taste (more middle grade than YA), but it was still a fun read!
princessmeg's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
robotnik's review against another edition
fast-paced
1.0
What in the wattpad fanfiction hell was this really? Did Tim Burton approve this? Because I can't imagine the Tim Burton I'm familiar with actually enjoying this in any way.
The entire novel wasn't entirely bad, mind you. Some of the narration was good and some of the characters were depicted accurately, but there was a handful of flaws to it that made me cringe a lot. I'm saying this as someone who is a big fan of the original, has watched it dozens and dozens of time, and probably has a weird amount of Oogie Boogie merch.
The first is the writing doesn't feel very young adult to me. It feels far more like it was written for twelve year olds, but they bumped it up a demographic to give it more credibility or something. That was unnecessary.
The concept of the plot with the Sandman was interesting, especially since Sally deserves to get a little spotlight. Getting to see some of the other holiday towns was interesting. The addition of towns not dedicated to holidays was a lot more eh.
Sally's narration feels... off. Like she was made to be a lot less sure of herself and twitchy and nervous and not the woman who keeps poisoning her creator to escape on a regular basis. Speaking of her creator, they changed Sally's background point blank in this. It was an important part of her creation and this book pulled a "oops, that was all a lie, here's something completely different". It was a less interesting, boring and stereotypical background too.
One of the main conflicts is Sally's internal conflict with herself about how she's not sure if she can be both a rag doll and a pumpkin queen. This inner conflict is settled when she ventures to the human world and seesQueen Elizabeth II . I kid you not. I won't go into detail on the exact scene, but I had to put my kindle down because it was so glaringly stupid.
At the end of the day, this book was harmless but entirely unnecessary and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who actually likes Nightmare Before Christmas.
The entire novel wasn't entirely bad, mind you. Some of the narration was good and some of the characters were depicted accurately, but there was a handful of flaws to it that made me cringe a lot. I'm saying this as someone who is a big fan of the original, has watched it dozens and dozens of time, and probably has a weird amount of Oogie Boogie merch.
The first is the writing doesn't feel very young adult to me. It feels far more like it was written for twelve year olds, but they bumped it up a demographic to give it more credibility or something. That was unnecessary.
The concept of the plot with the Sandman was interesting, especially since Sally deserves to get a little spotlight. Getting to see some of the other holiday towns was interesting. The addition of towns not dedicated to holidays was a lot more eh.
Sally's narration feels... off. Like she was made to be a lot less sure of herself and twitchy and nervous and not the woman who keeps poisoning her creator to escape on a regular basis. Speaking of her creator, they changed Sally's background point blank in this. It was an important part of her creation and this book pulled a "oops, that was all a lie, here's something completely different". It was a less interesting, boring and stereotypical background too.
One of the main conflicts is Sally's internal conflict with herself about how she's not sure if she can be both a rag doll and a pumpkin queen. This inner conflict is settled when she ventures to the human world and sees
At the end of the day, this book was harmless but entirely unnecessary and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who actually likes Nightmare Before Christmas.
booksontheknightbus's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
rorireadsgarbarge's review against another edition
3.0
2.5 Stars
My partner bought me this book for Christmas because he knew how excited I was to read it…
I really wanted to like this book, but the plot strayed too far from the original story. I could not understand the characters actions and so many of them lacked any characterization at all, making them feel flat.
The atmosphere was fantastic at times, though! But unfortunately, the descriptions often happened during scenes where Sally definitely should have had a greater sense of urgency.
I feel like there was a potential for a great story, but too many of the plot lines had poor reasonings that made everything too unrealistic. (Yes, I understand the irony of calling a story about a Halloween village unrealistic, but you know what I mean!) A lot of what this book changed about the original story did not add to it, but instead made it worse/boring.
*Dramatic sigh*…
My partner bought me this book for Christmas because he knew how excited I was to read it…
I really wanted to like this book, but the plot strayed too far from the original story. I could not understand the characters actions and so many of them lacked any characterization at all, making them feel flat.
The atmosphere was fantastic at times, though! But unfortunately, the descriptions often happened during scenes where Sally definitely should have had a greater sense of urgency.
I feel like there was a potential for a great story, but too many of the plot lines had poor reasonings that made everything too unrealistic. (Yes, I understand the irony of calling a story about a Halloween village unrealistic, but you know what I mean!) A lot of what this book changed about the original story did not add to it, but instead made it worse/boring.
*Dramatic sigh*…
bookboop's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5