Reviews

The World Between Blinks #2 by Ryan Graudin

fayes64books's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

tklear's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful mysterious fast-paced

4.0

booksandpops4000's review against another edition

3.0

I thought this book was a fun read. I really enjoyed how this book time travel and set it for the middle grade set. I also liked how this book went on adventure with cousins and focused on that relationship. I think he first half of the book had some pacing issues, but I really enjoyed the second half of the read! I also loved the adventure elements. I will def be checking out book 2 in this series. This book also tackled, grief and death of a family member and was just a fun read. It did not wow me, but i enjoyed it.

andiesmith's review against another edition

4.0

I have suggested this series to my sister and friends for their kids (and themselves)!

strager's review against another edition

5.0

I really enjoyed the fun little adventure. Maribel and Jake are cousins visiting their Nana's house after her passing. As they each deal with her passing and their families work at packing her belongings, Nana has one last adventure for the two. I loved the idea of the treasure map left behind for them to find. In a way it felt as if it was their last connection to the grandmother they both cherished and adored.

Their adventure leads them to a lighthouse and the World Between Blinks. The two meet all sorts of historical and mythical characters along the way. Of course there is a big bad villain thrown in the mix as well. The story switches point of view between the two characters. While normally I'm not a fan of this style, I didn't seem to mind. The story is fun and fast paced. I think this is a perfect journey and introduction for kids to fantasy and adventure books. In addition, even though this is a book written for a middle school audience, the writing is intelligent and doesn't dumb down the story for the audience. What really excited me was the Curators' Files at the end. I'm a sucker for little additions like this. This is a wonderful little go-to guide that teaches the reader about the different locations, creatures, and people in the book. Almost like a glossary of terms but so much more! I'm really looking forward to more additions to this series.

A huge thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins for the advanced copy and the opportunity to read and review this fun adventure!

ncrabb's review against another edition

2.0

This is an ok middle-grade book. The world building is whimsical and fun, but it didn't hold my interest enough to make me want to read other books in the series.

katiescott's review

adventurous informative medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

brittanyae's review against another edition

4.0

Sometimes you hold on to things.
Sometimes you lose them.
And sometimes, just sometimes, you had to let go of something so you could find it again.

Starting this review off by saying I'm not exactly the target audience for this book, and I realize that! It's been a while since I've mentioned that in the review for a middle grade book, but this is also the first one I've read in quite a while that read... on the younger side, if that makes sense? I love reading middle grade books. I have cousins in this age range, and I like knowing what's out there for them these days versus what I had to read as a kid - but I also just enjoy the wild magical adventures that often take place in middle grade books! I like reading about kids off doing something awesome, and I love that middle grade books often have strong moral compasses in them.

This book is not an exception there, by the way. This book holds great lessons about appreciating family while you have them, because things can change in an instant, and about how sometimes you have to take the bad parts of life to appreciate the good - and that both of those things are what make us who we are.

There's also so much history in this book! If you have a kiddo - or, hey, are a kid - who is interested in the obscure parts of history (think Amelia Earhart, Roanoke, etc.) and tall tales (as in the Loch Ness monster, Atlantis, etc.) then ohhhh man, this book is for you. So many fun pop-up appearances are scattered throughout the whole thing, and even better, there's a section at the back of the book after the story ends that gives a tiny bit of history/detail about everything and everyone that shows up. I could totally see this book being used for classroom reading and book reports because of that, too. I would've loved to read something like this in school and then have to pick one of the historical figures to write about!

There's also a tiny bit of Spanish in here that could possibly be discussed in an educational setting, although it isn't very much - just bits and pieces and phrases. (It can all pretty much be figured out via context clues, for anyone like me that doesn't speak Spanish. I took German for my foreign language, okay? Don't judge me, haha.)

Anyway, circling back around to the writing - it's really the only thing that made me knock a star off here. I haven't read any of Ryan Graudin's work, so I'm not sure if my issues here are just me being unfamiliar with her writing style, but I've read a lot of Amie Kaufman's work at this point. This just felt like a notch below those stylistically. I don't really know how to describe it except that this just reads quite young at times - moreso than most middle grade I've read in the last few years. It felt like a purposeful lessening of the talent I know she's capable of writing with. Less fluid and less developed.

Some authors, you read their middle grade stuff and it doesn't really feel that different than their other works, but this did. It definitely feels like this is geared more towards the borderline of early reader to middle grade rather than late middle grade (which I guess is what I'm more used to?), but that definitely doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it! It was just a different experience for me; I do think I'll still continue with the series whenever the next book comes out, because I'm curious to see where the story will go. This one felt like it wrapped up pretty well, but there's definitely more in this story world coming, which has me intrigued!

cheermio's review against another edition

4.0

Starts a little slow and a little fractured in style but picks up when it gets to action and has some great emotional moments near the end dealing with death and discovering who you want to be. Written for middle grade 7-14 but applicable and fun for older ages too. Or younger! But probably read to them with some reassurances about plot. The Australian cover is way nicer than the American one so I suspect it will do better there.

farawayreading's review against another edition

adventurous emotional lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0