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A review by jodiev
The Wonderling by Mira Bartók
4.0
I keep wavering between three stars and four for this book, and unfortunately there are no in betweens. If so, I would probably give it 3.75.
This book caught my eye some time ago, primarily because of the beautiful cover, and so I added it to my ever growing list of books of interest. I am well past the target age group for this book, however I am an avid lover of children's books and fairy tales, and often find myself perusing that section of the bookstore. I not only like to see what is new in that genre, but also hope for it to spark some inspiration.
I finally decided to give 'The Wonderling' a try, and like many books that I'm on the fence about, got it on loan from my library. It was the e-book version though, and although it had some wonderful, small illustrations, I'm sure they paled in comparison to the hardbound.
I thought the author did a magnificent job and I enjoyed the storyline (although a little too steampunk for my taste). Although it ends well, it is not a very happy story. Quite dismal in fact. If you are looking for something that will put a smile on your face and send you too a happy place before bed, this isn't it.
The characters are pretty well developed, although, I liked the secondary characters more so than the primary. Trinket and Peevel have great personalities and I love that even though they are so small, they've got spunk.
I did feel that the book was too long for the story and it dragged for sometime. (I found myself constantly checking how much more there was). Yet there were parts that were just skimmed over that I would liked a little more developed and to know more about. For example, I would have liked to have spent more time with the family of tree elves or to have learned more about the twins' childhood.
The ending seems pretty well set up for sequels, although I don't know if that is in the works. If so, I probably won't read any further, but that is not saying I regret having read 'The Wonderling'. I think Mira Bartok is a fine writer and all in all it was an enjoyable read.
This book caught my eye some time ago, primarily because of the beautiful cover, and so I added it to my ever growing list of books of interest. I am well past the target age group for this book, however I am an avid lover of children's books and fairy tales, and often find myself perusing that section of the bookstore. I not only like to see what is new in that genre, but also hope for it to spark some inspiration.
I finally decided to give 'The Wonderling' a try, and like many books that I'm on the fence about, got it on loan from my library. It was the e-book version though, and although it had some wonderful, small illustrations, I'm sure they paled in comparison to the hardbound.
I thought the author did a magnificent job and I enjoyed the storyline (although a little too steampunk for my taste). Although it ends well, it is not a very happy story. Quite dismal in fact. If you are looking for something that will put a smile on your face and send you too a happy place before bed, this isn't it.
The characters are pretty well developed, although, I liked the secondary characters more so than the primary. Trinket and Peevel have great personalities and I love that even though they are so small, they've got spunk.
I did feel that the book was too long for the story and it dragged for sometime. (I found myself constantly checking how much more there was). Yet there were parts that were just skimmed over that I would liked a little more developed and to know more about. For example, I would have liked to have spent more time with the family of tree elves or to have learned more about the twins' childhood.
The ending seems pretty well set up for sequels, although I don't know if that is in the works. If so, I probably won't read any further, but that is not saying I regret having read 'The Wonderling'. I think Mira Bartok is a fine writer and all in all it was an enjoyable read.