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A review by jessbaggins
The Artful by Wilbert Stanton
3.0
ALL THE SPOILERS!!! MAJOR MAJOR SPOILERS!!!! That is all.
Okay so the Artful Dodger is my favorite literary character, and he is also the only character I have that I love who doesn't FREAKING DIE (besides Mr. Bingley, thank you for living to the end of your book, dear). AND WHAT DOES THIS BOOK DO?!
IT KILLS DODGER OFF AND MAKES HIM JOIN FINNICK AND FRED AND ENJOLRAS AND HENRY V IN THAT BOOKSHOP IN THE SKY.
Okay. Now that that part of my review is done, we can get into the meat of it, shall we? I got this book because, as I said, I ADORE Dodger from Dickens's "Oliver Twist." And with a title like "The Artful," I figured that it would be through his POV or be mostly about him. But much to my disappointment... It was all about Oliver and through his POV. And quite apparently, no matter what the world or the story, Oliver is as annoying as nails on a chalk-board! His whiny narrative made me want to bash my head into a wall and FREAKING GIA... Okay. First off. One of the most annoying Mary-Sue made-up YA girl characters out there. Like... Bella material. Second of all, Oliver is DISGUSTING. The way he fawns all over her beauty at the most inappropriate times, the way he's more worried about her than his BROTHER Dodger, the way he is fretting over her and not mourning Dodge at the end, the way he doesn't even TRY and save Dodger when he takes the bullet for Gia... Shocking. I couldn't handle it. And poor Dodger! He never got a break cut for him! Though I will say Stanton wrote him very mean, and made me miss the good-hearted Dodger from Terry Pratchett's pen, or even Dickens's original Jack Dawkins. Not only that, but there were many typos, and when Dodger was recounting his tale of killing Adam... OMG nobody talks like that and certainly not the Artful Dodger.
Not that this book was all bad... The concept was brilliant, and the moments where the Dodger we all know and love DID shine through made up for the times he had a slip in character. To be honest, however, Stanton better find a way to bring back Dodger in the next book somehow someway because he was the only reason I found any good in this book, and if the whole next book is about Oliver and Gia well... Needless to say I will not be needing a copy, thank you.
I just... I had to go re-read the last sentence of Terry Pratchett's "Dodger" after finishing this book. It was gripping and lovely at parts, and at other parts I wanted to throw it across the room. I am left with many, many feels... And I'm not sure if they are the good feels or not. That's all I have to say about that.
Okay so the Artful Dodger is my favorite literary character, and he is also the only character I have that I love who doesn't FREAKING DIE (besides Mr. Bingley, thank you for living to the end of your book, dear). AND WHAT DOES THIS BOOK DO?!
IT KILLS DODGER OFF AND MAKES HIM JOIN FINNICK AND FRED AND ENJOLRAS AND HENRY V IN THAT BOOKSHOP IN THE SKY.
Okay. Now that that part of my review is done, we can get into the meat of it, shall we? I got this book because, as I said, I ADORE Dodger from Dickens's "Oliver Twist." And with a title like "The Artful," I figured that it would be through his POV or be mostly about him. But much to my disappointment... It was all about Oliver and through his POV. And quite apparently, no matter what the world or the story, Oliver is as annoying as nails on a chalk-board! His whiny narrative made me want to bash my head into a wall and FREAKING GIA... Okay. First off. One of the most annoying Mary-Sue made-up YA girl characters out there. Like... Bella material. Second of all, Oliver is DISGUSTING. The way he fawns all over her beauty at the most inappropriate times, the way he's more worried about her than his BROTHER Dodger, the way he is fretting over her and not mourning Dodge at the end, the way he doesn't even TRY and save Dodger when he takes the bullet for Gia... Shocking. I couldn't handle it. And poor Dodger! He never got a break cut for him! Though I will say Stanton wrote him very mean, and made me miss the good-hearted Dodger from Terry Pratchett's pen, or even Dickens's original Jack Dawkins. Not only that, but there were many typos, and when Dodger was recounting his tale of killing Adam... OMG nobody talks like that and certainly not the Artful Dodger.
Not that this book was all bad... The concept was brilliant, and the moments where the Dodger we all know and love DID shine through made up for the times he had a slip in character. To be honest, however, Stanton better find a way to bring back Dodger in the next book somehow someway because he was the only reason I found any good in this book, and if the whole next book is about Oliver and Gia well... Needless to say I will not be needing a copy, thank you.
I just... I had to go re-read the last sentence of Terry Pratchett's "Dodger" after finishing this book. It was gripping and lovely at parts, and at other parts I wanted to throw it across the room. I am left with many, many feels... And I'm not sure if they are the good feels or not. That's all I have to say about that.