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What Members Thought
I really enjoy fairy tales given a new twist, especially a dark one and this book certainly delivers in that category. It is the story of a boy who, unhappy with the cards life has dealt him, suddenly finds himself in a different world, meeting some of the characters he's enjoyed reading about, but all with a brand new twist.
Right about the halfway point, I started getting worried that every tale he experienced was going to have the same type ending and the same feel to it, but as soon as that t ...more
Right about the halfway point, I started getting worried that every tale he experienced was going to have the same type ending and the same feel to it, but as soon as that t ...more
Not my usual kind of book, but I liked this one. Actually enjoyed the fantasy part more than the "real" part. An interesting coming-of-age story.
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I adored this book and I think people who love fairy tales, folk tales, and fantasy will like it, too. John Connolly is a really talented writer and I was drawn in (after about page 20) and simply consumed the book in two days.
One really interesting thing I noticed about this book was Connolly's inclusion of feminism and pro-queer elements. Old style, fairy tale writing is often full of phrases like "mankind" and "countrymen" and references to "he"s and "him"s and "men" as though women don't exi ...more
One really interesting thing I noticed about this book was Connolly's inclusion of feminism and pro-queer elements. Old style, fairy tale writing is often full of phrases like "mankind" and "countrymen" and references to "he"s and "him"s and "men" as though women don't exi ...more
Connolly has taken the story of a real boy sucked into a brutal fairy tale world and made it a tremendously serious coming-of-age story. His ability to include the descriptions of the setting and character that really give me - as the reader - the heebie geebies is undeniable. That being said, this is a brutal and gory book, much more gory I think than the real Grimm fairy tales I've read, and I would not recommend this for the squeamish. I would also not recommend it for readers with overactive
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The narrator for the unabridged audio version was excellent. The book captured me and I found myself completely engrossed in the world and the dark versions of the fairy tales. The book is of the genre of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe -- slip through a crack in this world and find yourself in a different world. I thought the wrap up/epilogue was too long and unecessary, but overall thought the structure worked.
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A very clever take on fairytales and stories and their power over us. Once I got into it, I flew through it, even though I could see where it was going. A little heavy on the moral but very clever nonetheless.
Too gruesome for my fairy tale sensibilities. I got through and got bored. The author was more intent on the scare and ick factor to pay attention to the simplistic story.
Mar 15, 2008
Connie
marked it as to-read
Jul 31, 2008
Erin
marked it as to-read
Aug 17, 2009
Sonia
rated it
really liked it
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review of another edition
Shelves:
young-adult,
alex-awards
Sep 19, 2010
Christine
marked it as tbr-already-own-the-book
Dec 05, 2010
Heather
marked it as to-read
Sep 18, 2011
Jeannine J9
added it
Dec 14, 2012
Crystal
marked it as to-read
Nov 19, 2013
Katie
marked it as to-read
May 30, 2014
Julie
marked it as to-read
