In a bustling metropolis where magic is outlawed, a six-year-old child is found inside a locked bank vault. A scrap of paper reveals his name: Bran Hambric. The child remembers nothing of his life before the vault. Only magic could have done this. But why would any mage risk breaking the law to place a child in a bank vault?
Eight years later the City of Dunce has forgotten about Bran. Even his foster parents don't seem to know he exists. But there are those who have been watching, biding their time, waiting to strike, people who know where Bran came from and why he was sent away. And they will do anything to get Bran back, dead or alive…
Welcome to a world unlike any other where the adventure of a lifetime is just beginning.
I have started and stopped this review a bunch of times since completing this book. I just cannot decide what to say about it. Now, here it is the day that I am supposed to have my review posted, and I am still not sure what to say. The simple answer is that I wanted to like this book, but it just didn't work for me. I have been puzzling over what the problem was and I think it just seemed too overdone. There were no surprises found in the book. I didn't feel the need to keep turning the pages because I essentially knew what was going to happen next. I also strongly felt like this book could almost be called Harry Potter fan-fiction. Not being a fan of that whole empire, I think that probably lead to a lot of my dislike of this book.
That being said, I read this book to completion because the story might have been a bit dull for me, but the characters were really fun! They saved the book. They didn't necessarily have a lot of depth, but they were funny. The humour that several of them added to the story saved the story for me in many ways. I found myself smiling or laughing in several places. I think that was the point, and the author pulled the humour off very well. This is his first book, I believe, and he does have a lot of potential. I think if he keeps things up there will be great things from him in the future. I wouldn't recommend this to other adults, but I would recommend it to the middle age group that the book is more marketed towards. It will appeal to those that are looking for a book in the same line as Harry Potter.
I do hope that Nation continues to write, though, and I look forward to seeing what the future brings for him even though I did not love this book. Other people enjoyed it, though, and to read all the reviews you can click on the links below.
Sunday, August 30th
Monday, August 31st
Tuesday, September 1st
James Holder’s YouTube Channel
Wednesday, September 2nd
Thursday, September 3rd
Friday, September 4th
Saturday, September 5th
Sunday, September 6th
Monday, September 7th
Life After Twilight vlog channel
Tuesday, September 8th
Wednesday, September 9th
Thursday, September 10th
Friday, September 11th
The Inside Scoop With Chandelle
Saturday, September 12th
Sunday, September 13th
Monday, September 14th
Tuesday, September 15th
Wednesday, September 16th
Thursday, September 17th
Friday, September 18th
Saturday, September 19th
Into the Wardrobe
Thanks for the honest review, Kelly. I really think this sounds like one my son might enjoy.
ReplyDeleteThat's too bad.
ReplyDeleteI think I'm finally on Twitter. I tried to sign on as booklogged and they said I had already joined. I found you and tried to follow, but I didn't succeed. Baby steps, still!
What saved the book for me was upon discovering the curse, finding out what Bran would do about it. But, I agree with you: it was very much Harry Potter fan fiction. (Can we expect much else from a nineteen year old writer? I don't know what his experience can lead him to write. I had the same issue with Paolini's Eragon. Probably, if you're in high school, you'll love this stuff.)
ReplyDeleteKelly, I think the story is that Kaleb started writing this when he was 14. 14!!! It was the height of HP madness, which probably had more influence than he might have realized. Having followed his blog over the past year or so, he has a wicked sense of humor, so I'm not surprised that the characters themselves were funny. I imagine that he will get better as he gets older. I've been thinking about getting this book for my 9-year-old, and I think you convinced me that it would be perfect for him! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI've seen several contests for this one but I haven't entered because everyone that has read it seemed to have the same reaction you did.
ReplyDeleteI will have to check this book out for my middle school shelves. Sometimes this genre can fall flat for us big kids but the younger ones don't catch all of the flaws like we do!! :)
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