chris_merricm's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
yapha's review against another edition
4.0
Fun fantasy novel with great adventure and tinkering. Nice Makerspace tie-ins. Recommended for grades 4 & up.
morgarelibrare's review against another edition
2.0
*Read at work for review for ROYAL*
This book is pretty meh.
I picked this up at my review group for work hoping I would get a middle grade combo of Tomb Raider and fantasy creatures dabbling in puzzles and escape room like situations. Instead, this book was overly tropey, full of clichés, and very info dumpy.
The characters are also meh. Not one of them is that greatly developed, the majority of which seem a bit like copies of characters in other works, such as Harry Potter (Wily) or Guardians of the Galaxy (everyone else). The plot was pretty predictable and the way the rag tag group of misfits got out of trouble was seemingly all too easy on almost every occasion.
While usually one of my favorite parts of a fantasy is the made up terminology and slag words, in this case it was a huge deterrent. Everything that could be considered world building felt messy and like one giant info dump that was boring. Every time a new word was used, there would immediately be a paragraph explaining to what type of creature it belonged and what it meant, when half the time it was easy enough to guess what it meant. It kind of felt like the author wasn’t giving the reader a change to figure things out for themselves, which is ironic in a book that’s supposed to be about traps and puzzles.
Overall, I’m sure this will appeal to a lot of younger middle school aged children, but for me it was just okay. I liked the sense of adventure, but I wish the puzzle aspects would have been more prominent.
This book is pretty meh.
I picked this up at my review group for work hoping I would get a middle grade combo of Tomb Raider and fantasy creatures dabbling in puzzles and escape room like situations. Instead, this book was overly tropey, full of clichés, and very info dumpy.
The characters are also meh. Not one of them is that greatly developed, the majority of which seem a bit like copies of characters in other works, such as Harry Potter (Wily) or Guardians of the Galaxy (everyone else). The plot was pretty predictable and the way the rag tag group of misfits got out of trouble was seemingly all too easy on almost every occasion.
While usually one of my favorite parts of a fantasy is the made up terminology and slag words, in this case it was a huge deterrent. Everything that could be considered world building felt messy and like one giant info dump that was boring. Every time a new word was used, there would immediately be a paragraph explaining to what type of creature it belonged and what it meant, when half the time it was easy enough to guess what it meant. It kind of felt like the author wasn’t giving the reader a change to figure things out for themselves, which is ironic in a book that’s supposed to be about traps and puzzles.
Overall, I’m sure this will appeal to a lot of younger middle school aged children, but for me it was just okay. I liked the sense of adventure, but I wish the puzzle aspects would have been more prominent.
anetintime's review against another edition
4.0
Snared, the story of Wily, a lad without his folks, living underground protecting a vast treasure. His job? Make traps! Rebuild traps! Keep the treasure safe, stay underground always. BUT...the unexpected comes along. Oh, this review book took me about four hours maybe... (I had other stuff I needed to do at the same time so my timing is a bit flexible eh?) to read through. As soon as I was done I said "Lad, I think you'll like this book". :)
Snared is written by novelist Adam Jay Epstein. He co-authored middle school books such as The Familiars (I thought I recognized his style) and Starbounders. Living in Los Angeles with his family, he has written for various film and television projects as well.
It's hard for me to write about this book without giving away the story. I just want to tell you EVERYTHING about it but ... I can't. That's not what a book review is eh? I love a good fantasy. Anyways, Mr. Epstein takes his time at the start of the book to tell us everything he can about the world Wily is living in. We learn of the life he lived, how he's never met his folks, the creatures he spends his time with, and how he views himself....a misbegotten hobgoblin. We are introduced to two villains, The Infernal King and Stalag. His life is safe underground but then.... his life is literally turned upside down.
And the story gets interesting...the adventures, the learning, the possibilities... it was all just rather intriguing indeed. Good character development, back stories were added in well, horror described without being graphic, just enough adventure mixed with daily living to keep the book moving forward. Not so incredibly fast paced that you feel like everything is a rush, yet not so bogged down by details you get bored. Well balanced.
Snared is written by novelist Adam Jay Epstein. He co-authored middle school books such as The Familiars (I thought I recognized his style) and Starbounders. Living in Los Angeles with his family, he has written for various film and television projects as well.
It's hard for me to write about this book without giving away the story. I just want to tell you EVERYTHING about it but ... I can't. That's not what a book review is eh? I love a good fantasy. Anyways, Mr. Epstein takes his time at the start of the book to tell us everything he can about the world Wily is living in. We learn of the life he lived, how he's never met his folks, the creatures he spends his time with, and how he views himself....a misbegotten hobgoblin. We are introduced to two villains, The Infernal King and Stalag. His life is safe underground but then.... his life is literally turned upside down.
And the story gets interesting...the adventures, the learning, the possibilities... it was all just rather intriguing indeed. Good character development, back stories were added in well, horror described without being graphic, just enough adventure mixed with daily living to keep the book moving forward. Not so incredibly fast paced that you feel like everything is a rush, yet not so bogged down by details you get bored. Well balanced.
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