Reviews

The Casket of Time by Andri Snær Magnason

krisz's review against another edition

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4.0

Érdekes és lebilincselő mese – az egyetlen kifogásom, hogy a jelenkori történetet vártam, szerettem, ami teljesen marginális szerepet kapott a könyvben. Talán jobb lett volna lineárisan megírni, mint így, hogy ezzel indítunk, aztán Viola elkezdi a mesét és lényegében az egész kötet ebből áll.
(A Viola névnél szinte bármi jobb lett volna, amúgy.)

wandering_turtle's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

bthorsson's review against another edition

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4.0

Frábær ævintýrasaga sem er bæði fyrir fullorðna og börn. Margir gætu lært eitthvað af lestri hennar.

kristiespacilova's review against another edition

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4.0

/Ve spolupráci s nakladatelstvím Argo./

Přiznám se, že mou pozornost ke knize přitáhla především ta česká obálka, ta je vážně pěkná a i hezky vystihuje obsah. Stejně tak mě zaujalo, že se jedná o původně islandskou tvorbu, když nad tím přemýšlím, mám pocit, že jsem islandskou knížku předtím snad ani nečetla.

O čem to je? Svět zasáhla krize, kterou se lidstvo rozhodlo řešit tak, že se zavřou do truhel, ve kterých neplyne čas, a v nich počkají, než bude na světě líp. Truhla Sigrún se asi porouchá, protože se otevře dřív a ona zjišťuje, že nadvládu nad světem pomalu přebírá příroda. Což asi není ideální řešení té krize. Jak ale dospělé probudit? Na to by mohla mít odpověď stařenka, která se jako jediná do truhly nezavřela a začne probraným dětem vyprávět příběh o zakleté princezně.

Tahle knížka je vlastně příběh v příběhu, i když mnohem víc prostoru má příběh o princezně Havrantýnce. Je to taková zvláštní pohádka, která se trochu tváří jako historický příběh. Ze začátku je to docela úsměvné a milé, ale postupně to nabírá vážnější tón, je to takové úzkostnější. Je to kniha, co donutí člověka hodně přemýšlet nad životem, co z něj je vážně cenné a co naopak vlastně vůbec ne, jak se člověk ke světu chová a jaké dopady to pak má, jak ošklivá je závist a hamižnost a mnohem víc. Obsahově je to kniha, nad kterou by se dalo dost debatovat, podle mě dětem představí spoustu myšlenek, nad kterými by se měly zamyslet. A to vše je zamaskované v napínavém dobrodružství.

Mně se kniha moc líbila, i tomu dospělému čtenáři má co nabídnout. Jako ideální by mi přišlo, kdyby si to přečetl rodič i dítě a pak se o tom spolu pobavili, to vám doporučuji, pokud nějakou starší ratolest doma máte. Zkrátka knihu zkuste, určitě s ní čas neztratíte.

bookishcreature's review against another edition

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reflective

3.75

eusou_paloma's review against another edition

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5.0

(4.5)

bergrun's review against another edition

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4.0

Alveg yndisleg bók, las hana í einum rykk þau jól sem ég fékk hana að gjöf en las hana nýlega aftur og hún var ennþá jafn góð. Mjög flottar hugmyndir um ofurhraðann í samtíma okkar og hvernig tíminn virkar, fyrir fullorðna og börn. Prinsessusagan er frábær en sagan utan um hana, af krökkunum, er ekki síður flott og rammar prinsessuna vel inn.

marcellemml's review against another edition

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4.0

Esse é o segundo livro que conta uma história dentro da história voltado pro público jovem que li no ano, e gostei bem mais desse, talvez por ser um conto de fada com viagem no tempo. O tom de conto de fada/fábula/fantasia foi coerente com a faixa etária indicada, mas leitores adultos conseguem aproveitar o livro, ainda mais no contexto de pandemia. Quem não gostaria de entrar numa caixa e só acordar depois que não tivesse mais COVID...
Enfim, sobre o livro, gostei da caracterização da Obsidiana. Ela parece duas personagens, a que o Kari e o pai enxergam, e a que a população enxerga. Gostei das 3 irmãs, pena que elas aparecem pouco por serem personagens chave. Gostaria de ter visto mais sobre certo reencontro, mas entendo que isso não cabia na intenção do autor (mas ainda assim senti falta!). A parte futurista podia ser melhor desenvolvida, ainda mais quando o autor planta ideias bem interessantes, mas acaba não as desenvolvendo tão profundamente quanto poderia. O tom e estilo de escrita do autor me conquistaram, ainda bem que comprei outro livro dele, LoveStar. Leitura bem gostosa, dá pra concluir rápido.

avalinahsbooks's review against another edition

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4.0

At first I was going to give The Casket of Time 3 stars. I was even stuck in it and left it sitting for a few months (at least 3...) But eventually, as I came back, I realized that it's just blurbed wrong. The blurb doing the book a huge disservice, because the reader isn't getting what they expected. As soon as I realized that, I had no more problems with The Casket of Time and finished it in a couple of days. The primary problem for me with my expectations was that the blurb sort of makes you expect a middle grade adventure – a handful of kids trying to save the world, in which all of the adults have essentially frozen themselves in time, until someone else fixes everything. But that is absolutely not what you're getting. Yes, those kids do exist, but several pages in, one of the characters starts telling a story to the kids. And guess what, 50% in you're still reading the story in the story. And only 85% in does it actually get connected to the present world.

Well, there's absolutely nothing wrong with a story in a story – but when the blurb told you that's not what was going to happen, you get irritated. Especially when you were expecting a middle grade adventure, but instead you get a fantasy fairytale that's essentially is a retelling of Snow White. That was nowhere on the blurb. I don't even read fantasy! What was the publisher thinking, blurbing it like that?

Long story short, if it wasn't a review copy, I would have DNFed. BUT! If you look at The Casket of Time as a fantasy or even retelling, its' great! I enjoyed it after I stopped waiting for there to be more chapters set in the present. Moreover, it has a great message about today's world – how we always wait for someone else to clean up the mess and don't realize we need to quit our ecologically destructive lifestyle. And its not just that, the ending is also pretty amazing. I wasn't expecting for the book to go there and it truly touched my heart.

So if you like fantasy and retellings and you care about how we humans affect the life on this planet, you are probably going to love The Casket of Time. Just start reading with the knowledge that this isn't a middle grade adventure set in the present day.

I thank the publisher for a free ebook review copy through Edelweiss in exchange for an honest opinion. It has not affected my review.

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