Is there a word for a book that starts with great promise whose momentum just peters out about halfway through? I feel like this is a fairly common problem in the literary world and there ought to be a word! And maybe there is and I just don't know it.
I was super stoked when this book was chosen for our Mother-Daughter book club. Don't get me wrong - by and large the books that have been chosen thus far have been pretty darn good, but it was super exciting to have a book chosen that was already on my to-read list! It just makes me feel so accomplished! I was also excited because Izzy has been opting to read the selections on her own. Here I have to stress that I love reading with her and we read together constantly, but it takes much longer to read a book together than it does to read a book alone and this is one loooong book. It's also just fun to tease each other about our progress and potential spoilers. For the longest time she was pretty far ahead of me, but I came out ahead and plowed through the last bit last night. Yes, that is how exciting my Saturday nights are!
Anyway, at the start we were both really loving this book. The four principal child characters (Reynie, Kate, Sticky and Constance) were unique and interesting. The set-up (four brilliant children are selected for a super secret mission of critical global importance) was excellent. Unfortunately, once the children arrived at their destination and the mission actually began I started to feel a little let down, a little less interested and invested in their success. I am really not sure what happened. Perhaps the threat just didn't seem all that real to me. (The villain and his minions were pretty comical.) And, as great as the children were (with the exception of Constance - who was a truly memorable character!) they started to become a bit too Mary-Sueish by the end. Ultimately, I never had any feeling of tension or doubt at all about how it would all eventually go down.
This book reminded me a great deal of both Harry Potter and A Series of Unfortunate Events, but, for me, lacked what makes both of those books special. Now having said that, Iz has expressed no disappointment at all. It will be interesting to see what she says when she finishes. And most kids I know loved this book and were eager to read its sequels. And I really can see the appeal. There is humor and adventure and what kid doesn't like those things?
Unfortunately, for me the most compelling thing about this book for me is the controversy over its cover - which can be read about here.
1
0
