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bkwrm1317's review
adventurous
funny
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
First and foremost, thanks to Andy (A.R. Witham), and Nepenthe Press for providing me with a NetGalley eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Jack Black is a swashbuckling adventure and coming of age tale that enmeshes the reader in other worlds, magic, legends of yore brought to the present, fighting cats, crocs, Minotaurs, pirates, and samurai knights, among others. The adventuring was solid, and I could see precocious younger readers really enjoying this (and any future adventures that may end up being written).
Andy's imagination and storytelling skills are on full display in this novel!
I am an enormous stickler for detail, so there were a couple of hinky details that stood out to me and detracted early on in from the story for me (about the first 25-30% of the book). These included mentions of baobab trees in rainforests (these don’t grow in rainforests, but DO grow in other types of forests), the description of the foster mother as not only abusive but overweight (smacked for me of the myth of the welfare queens and just rubbed me the wrong way personally), and our protagonist playing in childhood as a made up/combined Native warrior leader in the Badlands (“Chief Charging Bull” - seems like a combo of Sitting Bull and perhaps Charging Bear - both Sioux leaders from this region) being referred to as a “Buffalo killer” or “Buffalo hunter” which is… a strange take and one that feels troublesome to me given the intended audience of the novel. That said, these specifics may not bother most readers at all, let alone might they feel it detracts from the story.
In all, I’m giving the novel four stars and forgiving some of the details I’m nitpicking on, as the novel itself once it gets rolling isn’t problematic in these ways, and tells a good story that’ll draw readers who enjoy adventure fantasy in quite nicely.
Jack Black is a swashbuckling adventure and coming of age tale that enmeshes the reader in other worlds, magic, legends of yore brought to the present, fighting cats, crocs, Minotaurs, pirates, and samurai knights, among others. The adventuring was solid, and I could see precocious younger readers really enjoying this (and any future adventures that may end up being written).
Andy's imagination and storytelling skills are on full display in this novel!
I am an enormous stickler for detail, so there were a couple of hinky details that stood out to me and detracted early on in from the story for me (about the first 25-30% of the book). These included mentions of baobab trees in rainforests (these don’t grow in rainforests, but DO grow in other types of forests), the description of the foster mother as not only abusive but overweight (smacked for me of the myth of the welfare queens and just rubbed me the wrong way personally), and our protagonist playing in childhood as a made up/combined Native warrior leader in the Badlands (“Chief Charging Bull” - seems like a combo of Sitting Bull and perhaps Charging Bear - both Sioux leaders from this region) being referred to as a “Buffalo killer” or “Buffalo hunter” which is… a strange take and one that feels troublesome to me given the intended audience of the novel. That said, these specifics may not bother most readers at all, let alone might they feel it detracts from the story.
In all, I’m giving the novel four stars and forgiving some of the details I’m nitpicking on, as the novel itself once it gets rolling isn’t problematic in these ways, and tells a good story that’ll draw readers who enjoy adventure fantasy in quite nicely.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse
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