A Corner of White (The Colours of Madeleine, #1) in Aussie Readers

Jan 14, 2013 Kate Forsyth rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy, parallel-narratives, australian, magic-realism

I often tweet about a book while I’m reading it.

My tweets about ‘A Corner of White’ include ‘extraordinary, beautiful, startling’; ‘one of the most original and unusual books I’ve read in a long time’; and ‘I’m in awe’.

It is certainly unlike any other book I’ve ever read.

‘A Corner of White’ is basically a story about parallel words – our own familiar world - and another far different and yet strangely familiar place, the Kingdom of Cello.

A crack opens up between these two worlds, and a letter s ...more

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Sep 13, 2012 Tien rated it really liked it

Shelves: young-adult, australian-author, fantasy, arc, signed-by-author

The front cover of the book quoted Markus Zusak, “Perfectly strange, and absolutely comical and heartfelt… Jaclyn Moriarty is one of the most original writers we have.” And I completely totally 100% in agreement with Zusak right there.

It is one of the strangest books I’ve read but in a good appealing way that somehow makes sense. I also found myself chuckling right from the very beginning and found some passages to be so touching that I found myself teary. A delicious read that led me on to slee The front cover of the book quoted Markus Zusak, “Perfectly strange, and absolutely comical and heartfelt… Jaclyn Moriarty is one of the most original writers we have.” And I completely totally 100% in agreement with Zusak right there.

It is one of the strangest books I’ve read but in a good appealing way that somehow makes sense. I also found myself chuckling right from the very beginning and found some passages to be so touching that I found myself teary. A delicious read that led me on to sleeping late which resulted in a malfunctioned brain later on in the day.

‘She’s keen on you, Elliot,’ his mother told him. ‘I saw it clear as you like the other day when they were over.’
Elliot was quiet now, watching his friends disappear around the corner.
‘Don’t go starting something, will you? You’ll just go and break her heart. You’re perfect, see,’ his mother explained, ‘and that can be a flaw of its own.’
Elliot laughed. ‘Ah, perfect is like to a runaway palm tree with a head cold, or a dandelion uprooted in some other bizarre, unrelated thing. I’ll ge you the muffin from the truck.’

We follow 2 characters from 2 separate worlds with crack, just big enough for letters, between them. Elliot lives in the Kingdom of Cello where colours are to be feared –enemies that can affect your emotions, kidnapped you, killed you… A boy much-loved yet one who is suffering from the loss of a father. He would risk all to find and save his father.

Madeleine, on the other hand, lives in our world. Or at least, I think she’s supposed to be living in our world though the world from Madeleine’s perspective is so very strange. Being homeschooled with 2 other teens frees you up a lot but then again, Madeleine’s not short in imagination. I found her a bit hard to grasp to begin with but not until all was revealed near the end that I started to really liked her. Madeleine, Jack and Belle lived in a wonderful world of their own.

‘Do you actually believe in reincarnation?’
‘Of course I do. Have you not listened to a single word I’ve said? All of us are reincarnated. We all come back under the twelve different signs of the zodiac so we get to draw on the twelve different elements of our character, and I happened to be a Scorpio when I was hanging with Byron.’
‘I thought you were a guinea hen.’
‘Not a scorpion, a Scorpio. A Scorpio guinea hen, and there’s nothing hilarious about that, a guinea hen is a noble creature and I held my head high when I was one. It’s true that I don’t have exact memories of my former lives, but I’ve got glimpses and sensations and so on, and if you would ever, sort of like, listen to your heart, you might get glimpses of your own past lives too. You might even meet yourself from a former life, so, you know, be ready to be polite.’
‘OK, that part makes no sense.’
‘Sure it does,’ said Jack. ‘You never listen when I talk, do you? Time is crumpled, see. I’ve told you that before. It’s sort of folded on itself – there’s really only one time and it’s now, and Rhani’s goldfish there could easily be you from a former, or even future, life.’

Elliot and Madeleine started to correspond accidentally. This concept kind of remind me of The Lake House (an adult movie starring Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves) and especially, one moment in the book with the ‘instant’ correspondences. I had to watch the movie again right after I finished reading, of course, I loved the movie and I adore this book… can’t wait for the next instalment!

Thank you Pan Macmillan Australia and The Reading Room for providing a copy for me to read (what a pleasure!) and review ...more

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Jul 16, 2012 Marissa Novels On The Run rated it really liked it

4.5 STARS !

MARISSA'S REVIEW:

A crack between two worlds is discovered by two uniquely odd teens...one from each world. Elliott is from Bonfire - in the Farms region of the Kingdom of Cello; Madeleine currently resides in Cambridge, England (the World). Madeleine discovers a note in a parking meter and responds - by replying to the letter and slotting it back into the crack of the parking meter! Elliott is the lucky one to discover Madeleine's response and the two become unique pen-pals.

For Ellio 4.5 STARS !

MARISSA'S REVIEW:

A crack between two worlds is discovered by two uniquely odd teens...one from each world. Elliott is from Bonfire - in the Farms region of the Kingdom of Cello; Madeleine currently resides in Cambridge, England (the World). Madeleine discovers a note in a parking meter and responds - by replying to the letter and slotting it back into the crack of the parking meter! Elliott is the lucky one to discover Madeleine's response and the two become unique pen-pals.

For Elliott, he knows that the World exists....unfortunately for him, Madeleine has no idea the Kingdom of Cello and it's menacing colours are real and presumes Elliott is a crackpot living out his make believe life through his letters. But she'll respond anyway to each letter! What has she got to lose?!

Throughout the story we get to read the letters that go back and forth between the pair. They are enjoyable, humorous at times and become a private insight into each character.

Minor characters are equally enjoyable and just as quirky. Two from each world are my favourite: The Princess Sisters (Jupiter & Ko) in the Kingdom of Cello - flamboyant and spoilt princesses who behave as if everyone is beneath them and from The World, Jack and Belle - THE most quirkiest characters in the book!

Well, Markus Zusak definitely sums this book up correctly (his quote is above)! What we have here is a story quirky enough to have me thinking "this is not what I would usually read"....at the same time drawing me in to keep reading. I sat above both worlds for A Corner of White - watching both stories play out. I was an observer watching it all unfold before me.

And why not throw into to the humorous side the fact that I read the first two parts in a male/female voice of Will from The Inbetweeners!!! Yes I know.....bit silly really....but hey - that's what came out from word one! And I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Jaclyn is great Aussie Author and I will certainly be reading the remainder of The Colours of Madeleine Trilogy when they release. ...more

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Feb 14, 2014 Rachel (The Rest Is Still Unwritten) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: publisher-sent, i-own, for-review, pan-macmillan-sent, signed-copies, read-in-2016

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Thank you to Pan Macmillan Australia for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Find this review and more on my blog The Rest Is Still Unwritten!

A Corner of White is the first book in acclaimed Australian author Jaclyn Moriarty’s Colours of Madeleine series is a deeply captivating and unique fantasy tale. Vividly told and unparalleled, A Corner of White is a stellar addition to the Australian YA fiction genre.

A Corner of White introduces readers to Madeline Tull Thank you to Pan Macmillan Australia for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Find this review and more on my blog The Rest Is Still Unwritten!

A Corner of White is the first book in acclaimed Australian author Jaclyn Moriarty’s Colours of Madeleine series is a deeply captivating and unique fantasy tale. Vividly told and unparalleled, A Corner of White is a stellar addition to the Australian YA fiction genre.

A Corner of White introduces readers to Madeline Tully, a fourteen year old girl who lives in Cambridge, England with her mother and Elliot Baranski a fifteen year old boy who lives in the Kingdom of Cello. Cello and the World have existed side by side for many years without interaction but it’s not until a crack opens up between the two that Madeline and Elliot begin corresponding through a series of letters exchanged between them and soon begin to form and unlikely friendship.

In all honesty it took me about halfway through A Corner of White to really get into the story. Told through third person and switching back and forth between the Kingdom of Cello (pronounced Chello) and the real World it was easy to get confused as Moriarty began to explain the workings of her detailed world. The characters within Moriarty’s tale have very unique voices and ways of viewing the world—which I ended up loving—but it did take me a while to connect; especially in the beginning when it seemed like Madeline and a few of the other characters were pottering around about nonsense and things that didn’t seem important.

That being said, after a while I began to appreciate seeing the day to day lives of our characters and see the issues they were going through and attempting to overcome. I found Cello to be a vivid and compelling world that mixes elements of modern technology with magic and mystery. Jaclyn Moriarty really has created something unique and different with Cello and introduces readers to different concepts I’ve yet to see before in books. I can’t even begin to accurately explain Colours and have myself accurately describe their workings and history, but within this novel and within the world of Cello it all makes sense.

Learning about the cracks within the kingdom and their meanings, the Butterfly Child, the Farm and all the different Colours---Moriarty drags you kicking and screaming into her lush world and with the turn of every page I found myself liking Madeline and Elliot more and beginning to dream of the day they may meet. I began to care about Elliot’s search for his father and the truth behind his disappearance, the town of Bonfire that Elliot calls home and all the eccentric, alluring characters who live within it, and I honestly wanted to know more……

Moriarty ages her main characters young (fourteen and fifteen respectably) and I can only hope this is a precursor for growth in future books, but even their voices seemed older at times. Madeline in particular has a powerful way of seeing the world and expresses really deep and meaningful thoughts about science, literature and life in general. Elliot on the other hand is a heartthrob in his hometown and is intelligent, athletic, kind and determined—all qualities that make him enjoyable to follow.

Jaclyn Moriarty fills her story to the brim with different characters and I enjoyed seeing their different dynamics and purposes within the tale. I ended up loving the life they gave the world of Cello. With a couple of great twists and surprises at the end of the first book, A Corner of White has me eager to jump straight into the next novel!

...more

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Oct 07, 2012 Jenny rated it liked it

Shelves: kids-ya, spec-fiction, 2012

This is a nice, pleasant read. Unfortunately, while there's a lot to like in this unusual story, 'nice' and 'pleasant' are the two words that keep coming to mind. There are some great characters here, but some come across as a bit too soapie at times with their melodramatic dialogue and internal musings. I love the weird elements: colours as characters - as villains, but the concept is largely confusing. Moriarty took a long time to show readers how the colours affected the people of Cello. I ...more

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Jul 01, 2012 Shelleyrae at Book'd Out rated it really liked it

Shelves: provided-by-publisher, arc-are

If I was asked to provide a book jacket quote, this is what I would say:

“Imaginative, original and Colourful, A Corner of White is a magical story that leaves “a trail of light” for the reader to follow..”

I teamed up with Marg at The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader to discuss A Corner of White.

Visit Book'd Out to read the first half of the discussion

and then go on over to The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader to read the rest

...more

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Jul 25, 2012 Marg rated it liked it

My review of this book is a discussion style review with Shelleyrae from Book'd Out.

Here is the link to the first part on Shelleyrae's blog

http://bookdout.wordpress.com/2012/09...

and the second part of the conversation on my blog

http://www.theintrepidreader.com/2012... ...more

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