Thursday, February 05, 2009

The Unwritten Book Series: Book 1: The Unwritten Girl by James Bow


Books Completed: 28
Completion Date: February 2, 2009
Pages: 205
Publication Date: April 1, 2006

Reason for Reading: Sent the complete trilogy by the author. New Author Challenge. Canadian Challenge.
Rosemary Watson lives in the small town of Clarksbury, where news travels fast and gossip sticks around. Years before, her brother Theo suffered a nervous breakdown, and Rosemary, now entering junior high, is constantly teased about it. She wonders if she might go crazy like her brother, and she feels guilty for not being able to save him. She tries to hide in books, but even there she's uneasy: she can't stand to see characters suffer. She's happiest in the cool world of fact and figures.

Rosemary and Peter - the new kid in school with issues of his own - are thrown together, and soon find themselves on a life-or-death quest to rescue Rosemary's brother, who has lost himself in a book. With the help of Peter and her guide, faerie shape-shifter Puck, Rosemary must face the storybook perils of the Land of Fiction and learn to open her heart, before it is too late.

Have you ever wandered what happens to all the books that you abandon? I know that there are plenty of books through the run of a year that I either don't finish because I am not interested in them or because I get distracted by another book and forget to return to them. James Bow takes this idea and has apparently has created a trilogy based around it. So, what would happen if the books paused when you paused and never reached the conclusion? One interpretation of that idea is found in the pages of this book. Since I really enjoy books about books, I knew that I had to see what this trilogy was all about. It is a young adult trilogy, though, so keep that in mind.

I received this book in the mail yesterday and immediately decided to start it. I have other books on the go, but I was curious. I can be a bit picky about my young adult books, but this one wasn't so bad. It was not the best book I have ever read from the genre, but it was still a fun book. Rosemary and her friend Peter have to save her brother who has quite literally lost himself in a book. You find out the full details of that when you get into the book yourself. Rosemary's brother had a break-down a couple years ago, which is something that no one has really forgotten. This means that when Puck suddenly appears on the street one day, she feels like she has finally gone crazy like her brother. What does turn out is that she is about to start an adventure that will test the common roles of being a hero and make Rosemary face her fears.

I will be very interested to see what happens next! Where the book is short, I don't want to give too many details away because there won't be much point in reading it!

9 comments:

  1. What a cool concept for a story! Very timely as I just put down The Domino Men as a DNF- hopefully that hasn't screwed up any space-time continuum stuff...

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  2. lol. Well, if you meet a fairy in the library that tells you that they are there to help you 'fix' things, than you will know that you did!

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  3. Interesting concept! I always feel bad for a book when I don't finish it...it hasn't completed its true destiny to be read!

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  4. wow, I just LOVE the concept! Thanks for adding to my wishlist yet again :P

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  5. Mariel: I always feel bad when I don't finish a book, too, but sometimes they just don't work for me and there are so many more that I want to read!

    Nymeth: You're welcome! It's always good to return the favour. :)

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  6. This sounds like such a cool idea for a series! And I love finding new Canadian authors. Can't wait to see what you have to say about the next ones.

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  7. Joanne: I plan to tackle the next book very soon!

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  8. Kailana,

    I'd like to thank you for this great review. I really appreciate you taking the time to read my work, and I'm glad you've liked what you read so far.

    I suspect the next two novels may surprise you, as the concept that gets introduced in the first isn't what gets carried over in the series. I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

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  9. James,

    I look forward to seeing where the next two books go, then. I am going to try and read book two this week and book three by the end of the month. Then, I will be back in touch about the interview!

    Thanks for sending me the books!

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