Pages: 128
Finished: March 2008
Challenges:
** Twisted Fairy Tales
** Spring Reading Thing
** Once Upon a Time
First Sentence: "Summer comes over the hill like a hairy blanket."
Last Sentence: "Free."
As I have mentioned before, fantasy is a new genre for me so I am not sure what the standards are for rating the quality of a book which is fantasy.
For this one, I will say that while it was wonderfully written, I didn't care for it as much as I did Brier Rose. This one is a twisted take on the fairy tale, Hansel and Gretel, which in itself is a bit dark! This re-telling of it is definitely dark and I never really connected with the main character. I was expecting something different I think. Napoli uses wonderful metaphors, which I suppose did help me get the feel of the land and circumstances she was trying to convey. I am not sorry to have read it, but I am glad it wasn't any longer than 128 pages!
Good, honest review. With a 14 year old fantasy lover in my home, you've helped me out greatly!
ReplyDelete"As I have mentioned before, fantasy is a new genre for me so I am not sure what the standards are for rating the quality of a book which is fantasy."
ReplyDeleteI would say that they are the same as for any other kind of book, really :) It's too bad you didn't enjoy this one more. I haven't read it, but I did read Briar Rose and that one I enjoyed a lot.
I don't think "reviewing" a book has anything to do with genre.. you like it or not.. and for what reasons? or would you read it again? all these sort of things tell me about the book... and about the person reading it.
ReplyDeleteUnless you're doing a comparative review -- how it measures up against other books in the genre, I guess you can just go with a personal approach.
ReplyDeleteCan never go wrong with a personal approach.:)
I'll be interested to see what you think about Zel. I've read Zel and really liked it. I was considering this one for this challenge as well. Plus, it is a good one to double up with The Novella Challenge!
ReplyDeleteIt certainly is hard to know how a book represents a genre if you haven't read much of it, but the reality is if you don't like something, or even if it was just 'okay' then that is that, regardless of what other similar genre fiction you might compare it to. The only danger at all is when someone reads a book from a certain genre, dislikes it, and then chooses to paint the entire genre with that brush rather than being willing to continue to explore. It sounds like that is not the case with you and I'm thrilled to hear it. I hope your next one is a wonderful experience.
ReplyDeleteI just read this one for Carl's challenge and agree with you quite a bit. I did like the last fourth involving Hansel and Gretel. I found it made up for the first part, but the whole book was quite odd. But I like Napoli's writing and hope to read more of hers.
ReplyDelete