i'm about to start biting ankles because this book had SUCH an interesting premise with the creatures of narnia starting to serve a false god and all i'm about to start biting ankles because this book had SUCH an interesting premise with the creatures of narnia starting to serve a false god and all the parallels it was making to corruption and traitorous leaders.... and then it was all ruined because cs lewis ONCE AGAIN brings in islamophobia and makes the arab/muslim-coded characters team up with the narnian villain. and what's worse is this book actually includes the main characters doing blackface and slurs were used SEVERAL times.
if the ending of this book existed without any of the previous 200 pages it would be 5 stars for sure because i loved how the pevensie kids all got back together (view spoiler)[(lol except you, susan) (hide spoiler)] and it feels like the worldbuilding became fully actualized and you got to see it in its complete form.
but i can't not cringe at this book because of how outdated and racist some of the themes were. (view spoiler)[also it's so fucking funny to me that cs lewis created beloved characters that survived world war 2 and were on their way to live happy lives but then all died in a trainwreck (hide spoiler)]...more
yall i know i'm reading this series 70 years after everyone else but this shit was GOOD!!!!
after a few books that lulled in this series, this book wayall i know i'm reading this series 70 years after everyone else but this shit was GOOD!!!!
after a few books that lulled in this series, this book was just as charming and addicting as the lion, the witch and the wardrobe. i'm not typically a fan of books set at sea but i loved the pace of just sailing east where nobody knows what's out there and all the islands and adventures they stumble across. each character played a role in the story to teach the reader a lesson (who would've thought you'd come to love eustace?!) and at the end it unravels a little more of the mystery about narnia and aslan.
this was such an interesting volume and i hate to say it, but every book my appreciation for edmund grows!! and i'm his #1 hater...more
Appalling that in a world where there's literally talking animals and every creature imaginable, CS Lewis still had to make arab-coded Brown people thAppalling that in a world where there's literally talking animals and every creature imaginable, CS Lewis still had to make arab-coded Brown people the villains. Weak storytelling in this one and pretty boring too....more
can't unsee the old testament parallels but leave it to clive staples lewis to make creationism cunty!!
as an avid fan of the narnia movies i cannot bcan't unsee the old testament parallels but leave it to clive staples lewis to make creationism cunty!!
as an avid fan of the narnia movies i cannot believe i've never read them all. i love that this one reads as a prequel when you read them in chronological order, and the backstory of professor kirke and the wardrobe i think will be such a fun nugget to unravel in later books.
anyway, writing this review just spurred a research session into cs lewis so intense that i'm now tempted to book a trip to oxford...more
this book is so absolutely ridiculous it's as if children themselves wrote it about what they think it would be like to be orphans living in the woodsthis book is so absolutely ridiculous it's as if children themselves wrote it about what they think it would be like to be orphans living in the woods. it 100% reads like a make-believe story of kids pretending they're homeless, everything is so convenient and romanticized to be wholesome. i don't know how this qualifies as a mystery because the only thing mysterious was why in the world would these children rather live in a boxcar than their rich grandfather? but although this book doesn't stand up to time, it was very cute and easy to get through in a sitting....more
this book was like a kick to the spleen but it was so short, sweet and well-illustrated that i can't stay mad at itthis book was like a kick to the spleen but it was so short, sweet and well-illustrated that i can't stay mad at it...more
i found this book through my library when looking up books about fat main characters and color me surprised to see a new julie murphy book i hadn't hei found this book through my library when looking up books about fat main characters and color me surprised to see a new julie murphy book i hadn't heard of!!
it's not often that i pick up middle grade but i loved the concept of this, and it definitely delivered on some fun and silliness while also packing in an important message. younger me would have definitely loved this book, but i also really appreciated reading it as an an adult and seeing a young girl stand up to fatphobic adults around her. i wish i'd had fat friends growing up who all loved ourselves, instead it was so isolating being fat when growing up.
i will say the vampire themes to this were so overt from even the book cover that the plot and reveals were a bit childish, but this book was the kind of corny that was more endearing than cringy. highly recommend to younger folks but also i would say it does read a bit like healing for us adults :')...more
clive really woke up one day and decided to write the greatest children's book of all time clive really woke up one day and decided to write the greatest children's book of all time ...more
this book changed the composition of my DNA. i went into this completely blindly and ended up sobbing my way through it even though it's so short. as this book changed the composition of my DNA. i went into this completely blindly and ended up sobbing my way through it even though it's so short. as someone who had to move out of my childhood home and holds fond memories and yearns to go back, this book struck home. the art style was so gorgeous and familiar, and i savored every single page of this even when it made my heart ache. SUCH a good story to share with kids who experience moving, and definitely a bit cathartic for me as an adult as well. i'm so tempted to get my own copy of this after reading it from the library so i can have a piece of it with me to remind me that home isn't just a geographic coordinate, it's who i'm there with and how i curate my space.
long story short i'll be telling my therapist about this...more
If I would have read this when I was 11 I might have enjoyed it, but as an adult it just made me kind of sad. The main character of this book is bulliIf I would have read this when I was 11 I might have enjoyed it, but as an adult it just made me kind of sad. The main character of this book is bullied on nearly every single page. Everywhere she goes, people take jabs at her, including total strangers. Also everyone in her family hates her except her dad, but I didn't understand why her dad allowed them to treat her this way all these years? The author's note says a lot of this book was based on real interactions she had, but as a fat girl in the DFW area where this book is set, I found it hard to believe. Maybe this verse format wasn't right for those events to occur one after another after another until it felt like getting punched in the gut repeatedly.
Even taking that part out of it, the cruelty this main character experiences doesn't have that strong of a resolution, so it was a lot of negativity to wade through for just a slim silver lining and glimmer of hope. I wish we saw a little more at the end of her growth....more
this book was my first foray into phoebe's work and holy shit!! i can't believe she isn't more popular. i requested my library purchase this book and this book was my first foray into phoebe's work and holy shit!! i can't believe she isn't more popular. i requested my library purchase this book and was so pleased when it showed up in my holds because i saw it as a recommendation for a fat main character in a fantasy world. boy was i not let down!!
phoebe is a precious little witch living amongst fairies and mice and friends, and each of these four little stories focuses on a new season. i read all of them back to back and was weeping a bit at how they all folded together, and how dreamy and precious each storyline was paired with the cozy art style.
i can absolutely see myself rereading this every season and it made me wish there was a little kid to share it with. so absolutely precious....more
this book made me look at my stuffed animals and wonder if they've been feeling loved enough.
the emotional depth of this kids' book was impressive, ithis book made me look at my stuffed animals and wonder if they've been feeling loved enough.
the emotional depth of this kids' book was impressive, i can totally see why it's taught in classrooms. kate dicamillo is one of my favorite childrens authors, so i'm not surprised that this was so sweet and a vivid story with gorgeous illustrations!...more
i started this to revisit a book i know i read for 6th or 7th grade english class, expecting to dnf it because of ableism and outdated writing. what ii started this to revisit a book i know i read for 6th or 7th grade english class, expecting to dnf it because of ableism and outdated writing. what i didn't expect was to fly through this in one sitting! and yeah, there was use of the r-slur and bullying toward the main characters, but the friendship in this book was so wholesome and i actually also loved the suspenseful elements that unfolded. partially through this book i remembered how it would end, so it must have stuck with me subconsciously over the years. and dang it's a bittersweet ending. but i loved that there were so many new things i picked up on as an adult that i'm sure i missed as a preteen....more
better than books like the princess diaries and charlotte's web, i think this book actually stands up to time pranother successful blast to the past!!
better than books like the princess diaries and charlotte's web, i think this book actually stands up to time pretty well. but it also was published in 2009, so not too too old yet. these books were everywhere when i was in middle school and i don't know if i ever read them or not, but i always wanted to! so i did. and the gossipy girls in horse boarding school vibes of this were all i wanted them to be. reminds me of the tv show free rein, which i'm unironically obsessed with and i'm sad i didn't get to finish season 3 before my netflix subscription expired, so if you have a login you wanna share, i'll trade you it for my discovery plus or disney plus password.
ANYWAY.
i'm not going to sit here as a 24 year old and critique a decade old book meant for 10 year olds, but i do wish this book had a more understandable school system. it's a boarding school, but for people of all talents and not just horseback riding? and how come she made the intermediate team only to qualify to move up a level after one semester? why are there multiples of each team as well? doesn't that reduce the competition?
scribd has the rest of these books on ebook and i might pick one up every now and then as a quick read moving forward, but it was definitely the perfect book to sail through in between more complex and bigger books....more
i put this book off because i was sure it would be far too sad, but i think i always get this one and the boy with the striped pajamas confused. i'd ni put this book off because i was sure it would be far too sad, but i think i always get this one and the boy with the striped pajamas confused. i'd never read a book about nazi occupation that was set in denmark, so i thought it was neat! and also an interesting angle being set from a child's eyes. the writing was beautiful and i flew through this in one sitting without intending to. i can't imagine reading this when i was younger because it's such a heavy topic and i'm sure this would've prompted a million questions, because even as an adult this made me want to research sweden in WWII.
so i really enjoyed this. and nothing beats reading the story from an old classroom copy with the word "damn" scribbled out in sharpie....more
Loading...
