Fablehaven
Finished Fablehaven. I liked it okay. I'll read the next one to see how it compares. It had some good moments, but I didn't LOOOOVE it. '
Spoilers ahead, beware!!!!!
The character development could be a lot stronger. The obligatory sibling bickering gets repetitive. On Midsummer Night, they bicker for SIX pages before anything happens, and most of Kendra's comments are some variation on, "Seth, get back in bed!" Kendra is always the voice of caution--a pretty boring role. She's kind of a nothing character, except when she feeds Seth toxic milk (!) As for Seth, he's too much a caricature--always the devil-may-care, impulsive little snot. I couldn't believe the part where he gets mouthy with Muriel (when he thinks she's just a homeless old woman). As Jessica Lada says in her
review, it's "a fantasy version of Goofus and Gallant".
Good description of the fantasy elements--but wouldn't it have been amazing if description were interwoven with the action instead of a block of telling inserted at the beginning of each scene?
I did kind of like Grandma being the chicken, and having Seth save her was cool. But ... keeping a chicken in your room? ... eww...
And speaking of disgusting, how about when Kendra stabs the giant cow in the udder?
Kendra does manage to save everyone in the end, but she does it by begging the fairy queen for help, and then ... yeah, the cow thing. It just seems like a really weird way for a character to come into her own. Then, during the battle scene, she's basically a passive observer, along for the ride. Neither she nor Seth are active participants in making things right.
As for everything being restored to normal and/or improved by the brownies... well, how convenient! By the time Mom and Dad return, nothing seems amiss. Isn't that a little too easy?
I'm being very critical. It's a great premise, and I know this was the first (and was a debut novel). And it's very popular with kids. Maybe it's just me being hard to impress.
I'd like to hear others' opinions. Timp, what was your objection?