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evamadera1's review against another edition
4.0
Unfortunately, since I'm still trying to catch up on reviews, only ARCs and SCASL books will get full written reviews.
nsnyder22's review against another edition
4.0
Not only is Walt bored in his new town, his dad is obsessed with him going to a football camp and that is the last thing Walt wants to do. Walt loves to draw and make maps but little does he know he is actually making a real world full of magic. I really enjoyed this book. It’s great to see black siblings at the heart of a series full of magic and wonder. It reminded me a lot of Inkheart but with a fresh new world to explore. I hope it is the start to a new series.
acrossthemorrissea's review against another edition
1.0
1.5/5 stars - I never write reviews, but I feel like I need to for this book...
First, the writing - While this is a middle grades book, that doesn't mean the writing has to be simplistic and juvenile, but it is. It reads more like a Magic Tree House book than a MG fantasy book. Despite the interesting premise, I found myself bored due to the amount of telling instead of showing. The characters were flat and poorly developed. The pacing was also odd, with the story dragging at points and going too quickly in others. Moments of action that should have been riveting were wrapped up too quickly and too cleanly. The big battle at the end with the primary villain is contained within one or two short chapters. The editing for the novel was poor, as well. Some of the passages felt jumbled, and the writing was oftentimes clunky. There are many errors in the novel that the editor(s) should have caught, such as "Walt chased after at it" and "We don't have time for a guilty conscious."
Second, the characters - Walt is a small boy who feels unwanted pressure to be "manly" from his overbearing father. This is something that plagues Walt the entire novel. There is one moment near the end where he suddenly recalls his father telling him "you might look weak, but that doesn't mean you ARE weak" - and this is what causes him to magically get over being small. Sorry, I don't buy it! In general, Walt is a confusing character. He is constantly told by his father that he should be a man and not be emotional or cry, and (I assume as a result of this) Walt often swings wildly between being a relatively calm kid to having these furious outbursts that come on suddenly and disappear just as quickly. There's a good commentary here on how young boys - and men in general - shouldn't be forced to stifle their emotions and that it's okay to cry and be upset, but the author never makes this point. What are kids supposed to take away from the character of Walt? That it's not okay to cry? That being small makes you weak? These things never truly get resolved, and I worry about the message kids might take away from that.
Walt's attitude toward the landlady at the end when they return from Djaruba also leaves MUCH to be desired. She gave Walt a helpful tool and ensured his parents wouldn't notice the kids' absence, but upon their return, Walt has the audacity to ask her why she gave him "such a useless thing" simply because he didn't use it correctly. He also demands she undo the spell on their parents and "glared at her in a way that meant 'I am waiting for you to do what you've been told'." Excuuuse me? Main characters shouldn't be perfect, but there are zero consequences for his being so rude toward someone who helped him. Assertive and rude are not the same thing.
The father is overbearing and borderline emotionally/mentally abusive toward Walt and, it's implied, toward Walt's mother. At the end, Walt finally tells his dad he doesn't want to go to football camp because it isn't one of his interests, and his dad begrudgingly agrees - but it's with the caveat that maybe they can try football camp again next year. I'm not sure what message the author was trying to convey through the father figure in this novel, but I wasn't digging it.
Van was also a pretty flat character. Her entire personality was that she was a tomboy who refused to respect Walt's boundaries. She was mean to him (and other characters) pretty much the entire time, and she never seems to recognize it or apologize, even when other characters tell her they dislike the way she's treating them.
Uncertain what the point of Dylan was - he was pretty much a filler character whose sole interest was basketball. These kids would be in the middle of doing something dangerous, and Dylan would start pretend dribbling and shooting. Kind of weird.
I hope people who liked this novel are able to find joy in future installments, and maybe the author will use that space to explore Walt's mom's side of the family and their magic, because that seemed pretty interesting. Someone let me know!
First, the writing - While this is a middle grades book, that doesn't mean the writing has to be simplistic and juvenile, but it is. It reads more like a Magic Tree House book than a MG fantasy book. Despite the interesting premise, I found myself bored due to the amount of telling instead of showing. The characters were flat and poorly developed. The pacing was also odd, with the story dragging at points and going too quickly in others. Moments of action that should have been riveting were wrapped up too quickly and too cleanly. The big battle at the end with the primary villain is contained within one or two short chapters. The editing for the novel was poor, as well. Some of the passages felt jumbled, and the writing was oftentimes clunky. There are many errors in the novel that the editor(s) should have caught, such as "Walt chased after at it" and "We don't have time for a guilty conscious."
Second, the characters - Walt is a small boy who feels unwanted pressure to be "manly" from his overbearing father. This is something that plagues Walt the entire novel. There is one moment near the end where he suddenly recalls his father telling him "you might look weak, but that doesn't mean you ARE weak" - and this is what causes him to magically get over being small. Sorry, I don't buy it! In general, Walt is a confusing character. He is constantly told by his father that he should be a man and not be emotional or cry, and (I assume as a result of this) Walt often swings wildly between being a relatively calm kid to having these furious outbursts that come on suddenly and disappear just as quickly. There's a good commentary here on how young boys - and men in general - shouldn't be forced to stifle their emotions and that it's okay to cry and be upset, but the author never makes this point. What are kids supposed to take away from the character of Walt? That it's not okay to cry? That being small makes you weak? These things never truly get resolved, and I worry about the message kids might take away from that.
Walt's attitude toward the landlady at the end when they return from Djaruba also leaves MUCH to be desired. She gave Walt a helpful tool and ensured his parents wouldn't notice the kids' absence, but upon their return, Walt has the audacity to ask her why she gave him "such a useless thing" simply because he didn't use it correctly. He also demands she undo the spell on their parents and "glared at her in a way that meant 'I am waiting for you to do what you've been told'." Excuuuse me? Main characters shouldn't be perfect, but there are zero consequences for his being so rude toward someone who helped him. Assertive and rude are not the same thing.
The father is overbearing and borderline emotionally/mentally abusive toward Walt and, it's implied, toward Walt's mother. At the end, Walt finally tells his dad he doesn't want to go to football camp because it isn't one of his interests, and his dad begrudgingly agrees - but it's with the caveat that maybe they can try football camp again next year. I'm not sure what message the author was trying to convey through the father figure in this novel, but I wasn't digging it.
Van was also a pretty flat character. Her entire personality was that she was a tomboy who refused to respect Walt's boundaries. She was mean to him (and other characters) pretty much the entire time, and she never seems to recognize it or apologize, even when other characters tell her they dislike the way she's treating them.
Uncertain what the point of Dylan was - he was pretty much a filler character whose sole interest was basketball. These kids would be in the middle of doing something dangerous, and Dylan would start pretend dribbling and shooting. Kind of weird.
I hope people who liked this novel are able to find joy in future installments, and maybe the author will use that space to explore Walt's mom's side of the family and their magic, because that seemed pretty interesting. Someone let me know!
luv4horses1's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I don't know if I've just grown too old for middle grade or what, but I couldn't really connect with any of the characters. They all felt pretentious and entitled and just really rude. The premise was really cool and I liked the features of the other world but that's about it
kellyjmac's review against another edition
4.0
I really loved this book! The main character Walt struggles to live up to his father’s expectations and dreams for him. He feels like he doesn’t measure up to his twin sister Van and is struggling to find his place in a new town. He soon finds he has a special talent where he can create (and possibly destroy) worlds by drawing or altering maps. After receiving a special gift from his mother, he finds himself travelling into one of his map worlds with his sister and new friend Dylan. Walt has been warned if a dangerous mapmaker Statica who has been searching for him but he’s curious if maybe everyone has it wrong since he is a mapmaker and isn’t evil. He wants his questions about being a mapmaker answered as well and feels like Statica is the only one who can. They travel through Djaruba and find many creatures (Dragons!!) and find themselves in peril many times (active volcano!!) and Walt is torn whether he wants to go home or not. I love these kinds of portal fantasy books and especially enjoy a good fantasy map which this book has! I would recommend to anyone that enjoys these too. It left off with an opening for another book and I’m hoping there’s more to come. I would love to see what happens next for Walt and Van!
allison_on_a_book_break's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Unfortunately, my delight at the beginning of this book started to wane long before I reached its conclusion. I especially liked the world building & magical system. How cool is it to be able to draw new worlds, after all?!
Sadly, once I reached the middle of the story, it started to lose its appeal for me. I'm not sure if it was a pacing issue, a rushed plot, or the characters themselves, nor can I really pinpoint a specific turning-point. Maybe it was simply a matter of my mood at the time. (I was reading this while simultaneously reading several other hard-hitting books, which may have unfairly influenced my experience with this one.)
However, two of the main issues I had were Walt's parents and the sibling rivalry between Walt & his twin sister, Van. Walt's father was overbearingly one-dimensional (and overdone); his sole purpose in life to brow-beat his son into playing football, despite Walt's lack of interest, while Walt's passive mother quietly deferred to her husband's wishes, instead of intervening on Walt's behalf. Van's 'goading' of her brother combined with Walt's jealousy and annoyance towards his twin also became to be a bit much after awhile.
I did however enjoy the uniqueness of the book. While I'm not interested in continuing the series at this point, I am going to keep it for a future re-read to see if my opinion changes at a later date, as it does have a lot of redeeming qualities as well.
Sadly, once I reached the middle of the story, it started to lose its appeal for me. I'm not sure if it was a pacing issue, a rushed plot, or the characters themselves, nor can I really pinpoint a specific turning-point. Maybe it was simply a matter of my mood at the time. (I was reading this while simultaneously reading several other hard-hitting books, which may have unfairly influenced my experience with this one.)
However, two of the main issues I had were Walt's parents and the sibling rivalry between Walt & his twin sister, Van. Walt's father was overbearingly one-dimensional (and overdone); his sole purpose in life to brow-beat his son into playing football, despite Walt's lack of interest, while Walt's passive mother quietly deferred to her husband's wishes, instead of intervening on Walt's behalf. Van's 'goading' of her brother combined with Walt's jealousy and annoyance towards his twin also became to be a bit much after awhile.
I did however enjoy the uniqueness of the book. While I'm not interested in continuing the series at this point, I am going to keep it for a future re-read to see if my opinion changes at a later date, as it does have a lot of redeeming qualities as well.
bibliophilicjester's review against another edition
adventurous
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
this has faded a lot in my memory over the last month, but it was a fun adventure! the only specific thing i remember is how toxic the dad is about what his son and daughter should/shouldn't be doing. and how weird it was then that van is short for giovanni, a name i've only known as "for boys" since giovanna is the "for girls" form. i get why she goes by van, but it was weird that the dad was so toxic about stereotypical gender roles and the mom just sort of allowed/went along with it...and they gave their daughter a "boy" name.
to be clear, i'm not saying what names can or can't be used for which kiddo. i'm just saying it's a weird choice for the dad to "allow", i guess.
anyway! i hope there's a sequel because i love the idea of this book! maybe their dad will learn to be less awful in a sequel?
to be clear, i'm not saying what names can or can't be used for which kiddo. i'm just saying it's a weird choice for the dad to "allow", i guess.
anyway! i hope there's a sequel because i love the idea of this book! maybe their dad will learn to be less awful in a sequel?
librerika's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Fun middle grade adventure but I didn't like that the dad's advice was what walt ended up relying on in the end. Realizing that his dad loved him was fine, but that doesn't magically make his dad's toxic masculine nonsense suddenly become good, life-saving advice.