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Oct 18, 2011

samm rated it:

I first picked up this book because, I cannot lie, I love the Decemberists. After cracking open the first couple pages I was swept into the seedlings of a great adventure. The world created by Meloy is so close to our own yet so far apart. It takes place in the "Impassable Wilderness" of Portland. And by the end of the book I was thinking if I went to Portland I too would be able to find this magic forest existing today just beyond my imagination.
It has everything I love: advent More...

1 comment like (10 people liked it)

Aug 29, 2011

Katie rated it:

I finally finished this book!!! I think it took me 2.5 months to get through this galley? That's usually not a good sign if it's taking me that long to finish something. To be fair, this book is a chunker--541 pages, to be precise. The concept was actually really fun, in the beginning. A sort of Narnia-meets-Portland kind of thing, but I got bogged down in the language and style really quickly. I mean, it's GREAT to have some complex vocab in a middle grade novel, for sure, but there were defin More...

2 comments like (8 people liked it)

Aug 29, 2011

nicole rated it:

BOOOOORRRRRRIIIIIIIINGGGGGGGG.

It's a 541-page middle grade fiction fantasy that bored me to tears (except for one story about Prue's parents that was the only part I found interesting and I'd much rather have read about that for 541 pages). Meloy and Ellis call this work a love letter to the woods of Portland, Oregon, and a true collboration between their work. And that's admirable and beautiful, but I tried to quit this book a hundred times, until I realized I had already read so ma More...

1 comment like (15 people liked it)

Aug 29, 2011

Dasha rated it:

Really excellent. A proper review to come.

So, proper review - my main, shameful, criteria, for liking anything goes something like this: if I wish to have written, created, taken photograph, worn that item of clothing or thought of that - if I am a little bit jealous of not having come up with the idea - if I want to be the writer and the main character - that's what I love.
Wildwood made me feel both wistful for being twelve and reading it and pretending to be Prue and going More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Aug 29, 2011

Sue rated it:

Was lucky enough to get an ARC of the first two chapters of this book! Written by Colin Meloy of the band the Decemberists, it definitely reads like one of their songs. Precocious Prue's baby brother is kidnapped by a murder of crows and taken into the Impassable Wilderness, a wood located outside of Portland that no one has ever ventured into and made it out alive. The wordplay is great and the sense of weirdness and fantasy lurking just beyond the everyday world reminds me of Chronicles of Nar More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Aug 29, 2011

Haley rated it:

Note: I received this book for free as part of Goodreads First Reads giveaway.

For all the other reviews that rave, I suppose I shall have to add myself to the 'eh' category. It was okay. The elements to create an epic fantasy story were there- bandits, talking creatures, a stalwart young'un with a birth secret on a quest to save (part of) her family, princes and kings, the rising of armies to (sort of) follow said stalwart young'un, etc etc etc. It just didn't make it to the "s More...

2 comments like (3 people liked it)

Aug 29, 2011

Nick rated it:

I was lucky to get an ARC of this book. I loved it. First of all, it's very well written. At the very beginning, when the little brother is abducted by the crows, I was a little weary, as it started off feeling like a Lemony Snicket wanna-be. Luckily the book hit its stride early and didn't falter the rest of the way. The basic concept of Wildwood, that there is a fantasy world in the real-life woods just outside of Portland, Oregon, is what made me want to read the book in the first place. More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 29, 2011

Kerith rated it:

This debut novel from the singer-songwriter of The Decemberists is worth all kinds of praise. I first heard this described as an "American Narnia, without all the religion" and that's not too bad of a description. From the very beginning the reader is sucked in, as main character Prue's baby brother is suddenly and inexplicably carried off by a murder of crows. Not long after that we discover that the setting, Portland, is also home to the mysterious and disapproving Impassable Wild More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Aug 29, 2011

Natalie rated it:

Halfway through this book, I got that sinking feeling.

That, oh no, this is a series, feeling.

I was going to want more, and more, and more, and after every book, I'd have to wait for the next one.

Happily, this first Wildwood novel ties up quite neatly and stands on its own. I'm not going to have to wonder what on earth happens next for the next few years, the desire for a new Wildwood novel warring with my desire for a new Decemberists album. Poor Colin... if More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Nov 15, 2011

First Second added it

Gina: I love how illustrations can set the tone for a text, because these definitely did! Carson Ellis’ pen-and-watercolor illustrations (with occasional color plates) felt old-fashioned and Portland-y and exactly the thing you want to be reading when it comes time to be sweaterweather – coincidentally now!
Mark: Still slowly savoring WILDWOOD by Colin Meloy and it's delightful in every
way. Regardless of the controversy about whether this is YA or not, this
one is a treat.

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Aug 29, 2011

Kate rated it:

Clever modern fantasy that doesn't talk down to kids. Dubbed as 'an American Narnia'... which isn't far off. Awesome illustrations to boot. I was totally enchanted by Wildwood.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 22, 2012

Kelley added it

Wildwood is a fantastically imaginative story of a young girl who lives near the "Impassable Wilderness" in the lovely Oregon. One day, while she was babysitting her baby brother, a murder of crows steals him and disappears into the "Impassable Wilderness". Prue, the young girl, decides to go after him, being followed by her friend Curtis, and they embarck on a journey into a whole new world. This wilderness consists of people and animals, all who talk, having constant politi More...

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Feb 19, 2012

Angie rated it:

The best way to describe Wildwood is an American Narnia. Prue's baby brother is abducted by a murder of crows and taken into the Impassable Wilderness outside Portland. She ventures there with her friend Curtis to get him back. In the IW she meets talking animals, bandits, villains, mystics and all kinds other people. Some helpful some not so helpful. Curtis and Prue are separated and have to make their own way through Wildwood but they eventually join back together to help save the day at the e More...

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Jan 22, 2012

David rated it:

Wildwood was a fantastic tale about perseverance and that you should never give up on your task. It is about a girl named Prue. When her brother is kidnapped by crows and taken into the mysterious impassible wilderness Prue ventures into the impassible wilderness. On the morning of Prue’s venture a boy from her class at school named Curtis wanders in after her in search of a friend. But what Prue and Curtis find is a new world and a great adventure.
The main character Prue is a brave girl More...

1 comment like

Dec 27, 2011

David rated it:

This is a difficult thing to write, because I feel like I was torn in multiple directions through the course of reading this book. I should say that as an enormous fan of Carson Ellis's illustrations, and a pretty big fan of the Decemberists as well, I really wanted to like this book. I had high expectations, for sure, and that may be why I was so disappointed.

I love the idea of this book - that there is a hidden, magical world dropped right into the middle of a big urban center (Por More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 19, 2011

Delaney rated it:

This book was seriously great. It was written beautifully, eloquent and with quite the vocabulary. It felt as if i was whisked off into one of Meloy's songs (see/listen to any of the Decemberists songs and you'll know what i mean). The plot line was excellent, the story was exciting and never did i find myself bored. It was fresh and constantly changing (and not in an annoying way). Choosing to have the story follow two protagonists, a boy and girl i believe will add to the audience appeal so th More...

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Dec 05, 2011

Cornmaven rated it:

A captivating fantasy about the age old forces of good and evil, set right outside modern Portland, Oregon and drawn with excruciating detail and lots of SAT words. Meloy clearly knows how to tell a good yarn; he kept me interested in his world building throughout the whole novel, and I was always eager to get back to it. He also inserts biblical, mythological, and historical references, and is very unapologetic about using big words, most of which younger readers won't understand. They'll hav More...

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Nov 29, 2011

Tony rated it:

I suppose I should state up front that I can't stand Meloy's band, The Decemberists -- I find them boring and pretentious, but each to his own and whatnot. That said, I was intrigued by the illustration on the cover of this book and once I picked it up and gave it a few pages, I got sucked into its grasp and read on. The story is set mainly in a mystical titular wilderness abutting Portland, Oregon (based on Forest Park, which is a huge park extending northwest from the city), and follows the ad More...

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Nov 11, 2011

Hilary rated it:

What would you do if your baby brother was suddenly lifted into the sky by a murder of crows to disappear into a forbidden wilderness that you have never set foot in? If you are Prue McKeel you don't think twice about charging right into the woods after him in an attempt to bring him home. Not an army of talking coyotes, a bustling hall of animated animals vying for the attention of the Governer Regents attache, or Dowager Governess with a taste for revenge will stand in her way.
I'm going More...

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Oct 31, 2011

Suzanne rated it:

I was very excited to find this book, first because I love the illustrations and second because the authors are from Portland where I used to live. And to top that off, one of the authors is in the band the Decemberists. Ok, so I've never heard them but, cool! I was not disappointed. It's a really fun read. A little bit derivative of CS Lewis. But hey! It's about time somebody tried to write books as good as the Narnia Chronicles. The characters are great. The world building, awesome. Best of a More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 09, 2011

Andrea rated it:

I am still reading. I started it with great gusto and joy last month and immediately gave it to a student. I liked it in part, because I LOVED the format. The illustrations and plates are wonderful. I probably I have too many personal connections to be objective though. But wait a minute, I am an adult. Or am I? I love the setting - my home town of Portland and the famed Forest Park - often portrayed as a dark and scary place - Easy to get lost in because of the many meandering paths and lot More...

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Oct 04, 2011

Leslie rated it:

It was unfair of me to suppose that a songwriter’s novel would be lyrical or prone to poetic fancies. Colin Meloy proves that he needn’t be contained to singular voices or talents. His Wildwood is rather staid. It is very cleanly written. No waxing, a little waning, and not an awkward sentence anywhere. He transports the reader and translates Portland culture without melodrama, without romanticism (well, maybe some). Yet, it isn’t technical writing either. Comparisons with C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles More...

2 comments like

Oct 02, 2011

Keith rated it:

Wildwood earns four stars. Why? Because, as a book, as a physical object with a hard cover, dust jacket, paper and ink, color inset illustrations and maps, it is a wonder. It surrounds the story so well. A rare thing these days to feel such substance, that you are holding a work of art. Hats off to Meloy, Ellis, and their book designer, who should be acknowledged somewhere in the next edition. And to Harper Collins for not cutting any corners in its production.

The story itself is inventive and a More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Sep 12, 2011

Richard rated it:

Rating books is such a subjective thing. I just gave a book by Virginia Woolf two stars, and here I'm giving a YA story with talking coyotes four. But the fact is that I enjoyed the coyote book a heck of a lot more.

"Wildwood" is about the sorts of things that you would expect Colin Meloy to write about: civil wars, bandit kings, anachronistic clothing, hipster kids on bicycles. The book is very derivative. The whole time I kept going, yep, he cribbed this from from the Chro More...

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Sep 06, 2011

Trista added it

The hype is totally spot on. I love the story of the two authors: the musician-turned-Decemberist-success-writer (Colin Meloy) and his awesome-illustrator-wife (Carson Ellis) conjuring up this story when they first met while he played gigs at the Satyricon and she waitressed next door.

However, the story of 13-year-old Prue entering the "Impassable Wilderness" (Forest Park to Portlanders) to save her one-year old brother from crows who kidnapped him is even better. It's tr More...

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Sep 01, 2011

Stephanie rated it:

Why wouldn’t I pant after this new middle grade fantasy? The synopsis had echoes of Labyrinth, illustrated by the same artist of The Mysterious Benedict Society, and written by The Decembrists’ Colin Meloy. Plus, the Impassable Wilderness. Just the idea of it conjures images of exciting adventures.

Wildwood by Colin Meloy can best be summed up as a love letter to Oregon with strong overtones of Narnia and some classic fairy tale tropes. I’ve only been to Portland once, having driven More...

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Nov 30, 2011

Carmine rated it:

2 for the writing + 4 for the illustrations which are amazing = 3 over all. I nearly abandoned after the Portland hipster preciousness of the first chapter. Seriously, apparently we needed to establish that 12 year old Prue rides a single speed bike and cruises the new used bins at the record store- very important for aesthetic. Also, it is probably a good thing the crows took the baby because eventually she was going to do some damage hauling him around in a flippin' red wagon tied to her bike More...

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Oct 22, 2011

Moni rated it:

I got through 40 pages before giving it up. I'm kind of sad because I really wanted to like this book. I was really excited about the premise. Unfortunately reading this book has the same effect on me as listening to the Decemberist's music. It irritated the crap out of me. I don't know why. Maybe there is something wrong with me because everyone else I know loves the Decemberists, so perhaps they will also love this book. It did get a starred review from Booklist.

All personal feeli More...

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Jan 15, 2012

Caitlin rated it:

Bought this for my niece and then I started reading it myself, go figure.

Enjoyable. Loved the illustrations, and the storyline moved along. But this read more like a very familiar mashup of some of my favorite childhood stories rather than its own standout. As I was reading, I was thinking of Witch and the Wardrobe (without the symbolism), Robin Hood, Brer Rabbit and so on.

Reasons this book is easily spotted as a hipster-magnet, or at least a book born of two hipsters: More...

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Sep 27, 2011

Valley Cottage rated it:

This is the first book written by the Decemberists' front-man, Colin Meloy. Wildwood is the story of a young girl, named Prue, who while on a bike ride, her baby brother gets stolen by a murder of crows. Prue must venture into the "impassable wilderness," known to those that live there as Wildwood, to try to rescue her brother.

The story unfolds just like the stories in the Decemberists' songs. There are talking coyotes, an evil queen, wild bandits, and a cast of charac More...

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