Scan barcode
dinamurray73's review against another edition
2.0
I was torn with this one. I probably normally would have given it 3 stars, but I'm in a pissy mood :-) This had a steampunk/fantasy vibe to it. I feel like not enough was explained about the setting and the world. I liked the main character, but didn't feel very invested in it.
kiwikathleen's review against another edition
5.0
It's late in the day and I have no energy for writing reviews. My 5-star rating shows what I thought of this book for 8-12 year-olds, and I am putting the series on my personal Series Challenge list. Great characters, great look at goblins (different to the usual take on them, but not so different it's ridiculous), great combination of steampunk and magic.
chriskoppenhaver's review against another edition
3.0
This was: good, but.
I really liked the world building and original setting with a lot of under-the-surface, unstated-but-implied history and culture and legends, but I felt like we barely scratched the surface of the potential.
I really liked the hints of atmosphere and Dickensian street urchin life, but wanted much more so that I really felt embraced by it instead of merely dipping my toes in it.
I thought the characters were interesting with decent personalities, motivations, and growth, but didn't feel like I was ever really caught up in their experiences or feeling their emotions.
I thought the story built to a decent climax, but halfway through I wouldn't have thought that was the defining conflict of the plot and the whole thing left me wanting much more.
I wanted to be delighted by all the insight provided by the theme of masks and the power each of us has to determine reality, but felt we just got a glimpse at the idea.
I felt like this was a small appetizer of a story, when what I wanted was a full meal. It left me wanting.
-----
He put on the mask and shifted his stance to tower above them all, even though he wasn't very tall.
"I am a giant," he said in a giant's voice, and it was true because he said that it was true.
Rownie wanted to try it. He wanted to declare himself a giant.
I really liked the world building and original setting with a lot of under-the-surface, unstated-but-implied history and culture and legends, but I felt like we barely scratched the surface of the potential.
I really liked the hints of atmosphere and Dickensian street urchin life, but wanted much more so that I really felt embraced by it instead of merely dipping my toes in it.
I thought the characters were interesting with decent personalities, motivations, and growth, but didn't feel like I was ever really caught up in their experiences or feeling their emotions.
I thought the story built to a decent climax, but halfway through I wouldn't have thought that was the defining conflict of the plot and the whole thing left me wanting much more.
I wanted to be delighted by all the insight provided by the theme of masks and the power each of us has to determine reality, but felt we just got a glimpse at the idea.
I felt like this was a small appetizer of a story, when what I wanted was a full meal. It left me wanting.
-----
He put on the mask and shifted his stance to tower above them all, even though he wasn't very tall.
"I am a giant," he said in a giant's voice, and it was true because he said that it was true.
Rownie wanted to try it. He wanted to declare himself a giant.
erica_s's review against another edition
2.0
Readers may feel tricked by some sleight-of-hand as they discover the main character's growing skills and perceptions in this novel where simple things are complex and complex things are revealed only in bits and pieces, as if viewed through a key-hole.
It is hard to empathize or engage in the main character's struggle, when he has a tendency to minimize his own agency, and focus all his attention on finding his older brother who disappeared or on obeying the master who has enslaved him and others. It is easy to believe him incapable of taking care of himself, despite the clues along the way that he has some strengths, because that's what he believes. It takes him too long to find allies - his life seems to have started only a week before the story begins.
The more information about this fantasy world that is unveiled, the more simple the story is - to the point where it's hard to believe that a character within the story hadn't figured out the mysteries from the beginning. The only thing that makes sense is that he isn't actually a real person who has lived in this world his whole life. But if my guess is correct, we don't find out where he came from in this book.
It is hard to empathize or engage in the main character's struggle, when he has a tendency to minimize his own agency, and focus all his attention on finding his older brother who disappeared or on obeying the master who has enslaved him and others. It is easy to believe him incapable of taking care of himself, despite the clues along the way that he has some strengths, because that's what he believes. It takes him too long to find allies - his life seems to have started only a week before the story begins.
The more information about this fantasy world that is unveiled, the more simple the story is - to the point where it's hard to believe that a character within the story hadn't figured out the mysteries from the beginning. The only thing that makes sense is that he isn't actually a real person who has lived in this world his whole life. But if my guess is correct, we don't find out where he came from in this book.
bp0128bd's review against another edition
The first in a series, this steampunk novel for kids takes place in one town. Rownie and other abandoned orphans encounter a goblin troupe and a grandmother a-la Baba Yaga.
monacatira's review against another edition
4.0
I appreciated the uniqueness of this book and how it wasn't exactly a happy ever after and everything worked out ending. There was actually prices for freedom and for fighting for that freedom.
tgwood505's review
3.0
I read this to my daughter's 3rd grade class, selecting it because of its NBA win. Though while the story was an interesting one (a child searching for his lost brother becomes involved with a troupe of performing goblins), I found it to be, in some ways inaccessible to the nine year old set (and sometimes, even to me). I never felt I had a full grasp on the rules of this world. It seemed I was always trying to process some new and strange detail about the fictional Zombay and its inhabitants (creatures made of gears, masks that replicate rivers and cities, pigeons inhabited by the cruel matriarch from whom Rownie has escaped). This took away from the genuine thrill of Rownie's search for his brother.
I don't typically read fantasy novels, so please take these comments with that in mind. This might prove to be just magical to some readers. (And certainly, some children in the class to seemed to enjoy it more than others.)
I don't typically read fantasy novels, so please take these comments with that in mind. This might prove to be just magical to some readers. (And certainly, some children in the class to seemed to enjoy it more than others.)
janaw71's review against another edition
3.0
3 oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.
Cover Love:
It's ok. I don't love it but I don't hate it.
Why I Wanted to Read This:
This wasn't even on my radar, then it won the National Book Award. I had to give it a try then!
My Thoughts:
This book flew under the radar for me. I had not even heard about it until it until it was nominated for a National Book Award. When it won, I knew I had to read it. I find it fascinating when a middle grade book beats out young adult books to win! I have to say I have mixed feeling about this book.
read the rest of this review on my blog
Cover Love:
It's ok. I don't love it but I don't hate it.
Why I Wanted to Read This:
This wasn't even on my radar, then it won the National Book Award. I had to give it a try then!
My Thoughts:
This book flew under the radar for me. I had not even heard about it until it until it was nominated for a National Book Award. When it won, I knew I had to read it. I find it fascinating when a middle grade book beats out young adult books to win! I have to say I have mixed feeling about this book.
read the rest of this review on my blog
vinpauld's review against another edition
4.0
One of the best things about this steampunk children’s fantasy is its sense of atmosphere and place. William Alexander has conjured up a mysterious city named Zombay which is divided by the Zombay river. The two halves of the city are joined by the Fiddleway bridge. Large enough to hold shops and apartments, the Fiddleway not only joins the city, but serves as a sancutary - no one can be arrested while on the bridge. One half of the city, Northside, has streets that run in straight lines, the other half, Southside is more disorderly with curving streets and houses built on top of one another with newer rooms jutting out over the streets on stilts. It’s also dusty, with dunes of dust that are inhabited by dust-swimming fish. Some of the people in Zombay are fitted with gear-operated parts and there are even mechanical horses on the streets. Rownie, the main character is a young boy who lives in the household of the witch Graba, who walks around on gear-operated chicken legs and is reminiscent of not only Baba yaga, but Fagin from ‘Oliver Twist.’ This is a short book and what plot there is involves the main character Rownie, searching for his missing older brother Rowan. Along the way, Rownie is pursued by Graba and hides out by joining a traveling troupe of performing Goblins. As you’ll soon discover, masks and the performing arts are important elements of the story. The author does a good job of thrusting the reader into his fantasy world and then parceling out bits of information cluing us into the rules of his universe. Not everything is explained or spelled out, which might frustrate some readers, but it kept me wanting to read more. I think because this book has been nominated for the National Book Award, lots of readers are going to start it with high expectations. I know the award nomination was the reason I picked it up. I won’t say I was disappointed, but other than the fact that it’s beautifully written and highly original, I’m not sure what qualified it to be nominated. Maybe originality and good writing are all it takes. If so, then this book is a winner. I do recommend it, especially for those looking for a more off-beat type of fantasy. My one complaint is that I think it could have been longer. I wanted to learn more about the city and of the Goblin’s back-story. But who knows, maybe the author is saving those stories for future volumes.