The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly, 480 pages*
I'm copying my review here from goodreads:
Points for the clever imagination,the weaving of fairy tales into a dark and fantastical story of a 10 year old boy who loves to read. When he is pulled into a nightmarish forest he must use his wits & imagination to survive the perilous journey home. I'm not usually a big fantasy reader, but this was definitely worthwhile.
Things I could have done without:
- while I loved Roland, the not so hidden agenda of his character (anti God, in love with Raphael) seemed so ridiculously out of place- okay Mr. Connolly we get it - 1/2 star off for lack of subtlety.
- while I celebrate your cleverness with the fairy tales, don't spend 100 pages explaining your cleverness to me. (The final 100 pages of the book are fairy tales (helpful) and the author's explanation of their significance (condescending)*. Clearly a lack of humility will cost you another 1/2 a star.
I would highly recommend this to those of you who love fantasy and even if you don't it might be an interesting step out of your regular genre.
4 stars
Read more reviews here:
http://deweymonster.com/?p=731 from our beloved Dewey. Her post and the comments link to dozens more.
