Reviews

Read this many years ago and wanted to see if I still thought it was as good - it was. The writing is very powerful and the story, firmly rooted in British folklore, sweeps you along.

I had intended to read the whole series again but this reminded me that, in my opinion, the rest of them are not up to the same standard.

pridiansky's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful mysterious slow-paced

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

3.75

I am glad that I decided to give this series one more chance, especially considering how much I disliked the first book. It feels like the author leveled up her writing and avoided a lot of the pitfalls from the other book. Will is a likeable main character and mostly avoids making stupid mistakes, unlike the 3 main characters from the first book who did nothing but annoy me with their oftentimes blatant stupidity purely for the sake of plot convenience. If you're going to read this series, skip the first book. Really. Just read the plot synopsis of the first book and then start reading the second directly. I almost quit the whole series and only stuck it out because other peoples' reviews were saying that the rest of the series is better. Can confirm, the second book is at least far better and I'll be continuing on from here.

I will say that the series seems more well suited for pre-teens than for children. It feels like a more mature version of the Chronicles of Narnia, minus the whimsy. The story is quite serious and lacks the playfulness of TCON. It's not boring, but the writing style feels a little aged, so if I was tired or not in the right mood, I'd end up having to reread certain sections. The series is also quite mysterious, so you just have to be okay with that in terms of not knowing exactly what the characters mean, or not questioning too hard why something is happening in the plot. It will be interesting to see what the rest of the books are like.

booksarebetter's review against another edition

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4.0

The beginning is my favorite part, but overall this is still one of my childhood favorites. Will is a good character and the battle of good and evil continues to be the theme of the series. This was slightly darker than the first book, though still good for children and adults alike. 4.5 ⭐

brobee's review against another edition

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dark hopeful

2.0

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