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A review by bookishrealm
The Menagerie by Tui T. Sutherland, Kari H. Sutherland
3.0
Not as good as the Wings of Fire series, but still an enjoyable read
I was really excited to read this one because I'm a huge fan of the Wings of Fire series by Tui T. Sutherland. That series is epic. This book was definitely a little on the different side. It's about a boy, Logan, who discovers that there are magical creatures that exist in something like a zoo. However, he's not supposed to know that these creatures of the menagerie exist. When he discovers a griffin that has gone missing, he then offer to help Zoe (a keeper of the menagerie) find the rest of them before they have to go through inspection again. This book was literally about them finding the griffins and that was it. It didn't really feel as though there was much else happening outside of that. And that's perfectly fine if you're not looking for a "multi" plot type of book. However, I think I built certain expectations from reading her other books so this one fell a little flat for me. I did enjoy learning about all of the various mythical creatures that lived at the menagerie. There were some that I was familiar with and others that were first time introductions.
One of my favorite aspects of this book was the role of that friendship played among the main characters. They learned to rely on each other and each character brought certain strengths to the table which helped during the journey. I also enjoyed the writing; however, I had some issues with the changes in narration. It felt as though I was getting a change in the internal thoughts of characters in the middle of the chapter. Some times that made it hard to keep up. I almost wish they would have done alternating chapters of perspective instead. Overall, it was a good book. I wouldn't recommend this one over her other series, but it was a solid middle grade book.
I was really excited to read this one because I'm a huge fan of the Wings of Fire series by Tui T. Sutherland. That series is epic. This book was definitely a little on the different side. It's about a boy, Logan, who discovers that there are magical creatures that exist in something like a zoo. However, he's not supposed to know that these creatures of the menagerie exist. When he discovers a griffin that has gone missing, he then offer to help Zoe (a keeper of the menagerie) find the rest of them before they have to go through inspection again. This book was literally about them finding the griffins and that was it. It didn't really feel as though there was much else happening outside of that. And that's perfectly fine if you're not looking for a "multi" plot type of book. However, I think I built certain expectations from reading her other books so this one fell a little flat for me. I did enjoy learning about all of the various mythical creatures that lived at the menagerie. There were some that I was familiar with and others that were first time introductions.
One of my favorite aspects of this book was the role of that friendship played among the main characters. They learned to rely on each other and each character brought certain strengths to the table which helped during the journey. I also enjoyed the writing; however, I had some issues with the changes in narration. It felt as though I was getting a change in the internal thoughts of characters in the middle of the chapter. Some times that made it hard to keep up. I almost wish they would have done alternating chapters of perspective instead. Overall, it was a good book. I wouldn't recommend this one over her other series, but it was a solid middle grade book.