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fallingletters's review against another edition
4.0
Update: One of my course assignments was to make a book trailer, so I made one for this book. Check it out here.
Review originally published 25 March 2019 at Falling Letters.
I read Cajoleas’ debut middle grade, [b: Goldeline|29540283|Goldeline|Jimmy Cajoleas|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1503735156s/29540283.jpg|49840715], last summer. Unfortunately, I liked the cover more than I liked the book. Fortunately, The Rambling is a marked improvement over Goldeline!
This story lives up to that marvelously eerie cover. If there’s one word I would use to describe this book, it would be ‘atmospheric’. Cajoleas excels at describing the setting. I could imagine the air changing around me when reading about Buddy and new friend Tally drifting through and hiding in the swamp. More than once I squirmed and had to stop eating a snack when Buddy described encounters with creepy crawlies. I feel like it’s been awhile since I read a middle grade book with such an evocative setting.
The game of Parsnit is another aspect of the book that Cajoleas writes well. In Parsnit, two players take turns drawing cards from their decks. They ‘orate’ a story around the cards – the best storyteller wins. But as the story progresses, we learn that there’s more to Parsnit than just being a game. It took me awhile to realize Parsnit is based on tarot with a greater infusion of magic and storytelling. (If you’re familiar with the cards that make a tarot deck, you might catch on sooner). Parsnit games didn’t appear as often as I thought I would have liked. But once they do start happening – it was worth the wait. Cajoleas doesn’t take the easy way out by skipping over the actual orating that takes place during a Parsnit duel. Readers get to hear Buddy share his story as he plays Parsnit.
The Rambling also features one of my favourite middle grade tropes – the young main character learning about his parents’ past and grappling with his feelings about it.
The Bottom Line: It seems to me The Rambling improves on everything Cajoleas' was aiming for in Goldeline. If a creepy swamp setting or a magical storytelling game appeal to you at all, give this book a go.
Original thoughts (Mar. 24): It’s atmospheric, that’s for sure! Further thoughts to come. Bumped it to four after sleeping on it. If Goldeline is 3.5, then this is a 4 (so goes my somewhat arbitrary decision making of whether a book is 3 or 4 stars).
Review originally published 25 March 2019 at Falling Letters.
I read Cajoleas’ debut middle grade, [b: Goldeline|29540283|Goldeline|Jimmy Cajoleas|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1503735156s/29540283.jpg|49840715], last summer. Unfortunately, I liked the cover more than I liked the book. Fortunately, The Rambling is a marked improvement over Goldeline!
This story lives up to that marvelously eerie cover. If there’s one word I would use to describe this book, it would be ‘atmospheric’. Cajoleas excels at describing the setting. I could imagine the air changing around me when reading about Buddy and new friend Tally drifting through and hiding in the swamp. More than once I squirmed and had to stop eating a snack when Buddy described encounters with creepy crawlies. I feel like it’s been awhile since I read a middle grade book with such an evocative setting.
The game of Parsnit is another aspect of the book that Cajoleas writes well. In Parsnit, two players take turns drawing cards from their decks. They ‘orate’ a story around the cards – the best storyteller wins. But as the story progresses, we learn that there’s more to Parsnit than just being a game. It took me awhile to realize Parsnit is based on tarot with a greater infusion of magic and storytelling. (If you’re familiar with the cards that make a tarot deck, you might catch on sooner). Parsnit games didn’t appear as often as I thought I would have liked. But once they do start happening – it was worth the wait. Cajoleas doesn’t take the easy way out by skipping over the actual orating that takes place during a Parsnit duel. Readers get to hear Buddy share his story as he plays Parsnit.
The Rambling also features one of my favourite middle grade tropes – the young main character learning about his parents’ past and grappling with his feelings about it.
We stayed dead still, Tally holding my hand, the two of us crouched and quiet in the bottom of the boat. The tree swaddled us with its moss, big limbs draped around us like a giant wretched mother’s arms, bony and gaunt, bugs crawling all over them. The water was grayer and murkier here, it swirled in a baby little whirlpool that kept bumping the skiff into the trees. The trees were something else too, bark, carved on by human hands, symbols and scratch marks like how you figure a witch’s spell book looks. Above us dangled bones clacking together like wind chimes, another daisy chain of digit bones, jawless skulls wedged between branches and in the knots of trees, gaping at us, all those empty eye sockets watching. (pg. 25)
The Bottom Line: It seems to me The Rambling improves on everything Cajoleas' was aiming for in Goldeline. If a creepy swamp setting or a magical storytelling game appeal to you at all, give this book a go.
Original thoughts (Mar. 24): It’s atmospheric, that’s for sure! Further thoughts to come. Bumped it to four after sleeping on it. If Goldeline is 3.5, then this is a 4 (so goes my somewhat arbitrary decision making of whether a book is 3 or 4 stars).
toryhallelujah's review against another edition
5.0
4.5 stars, rounding up to five because I only felt like the pacing was slightly off at the end.
Oooh such great world-building! The Rambling takes place in a world that reminded me a lot of The Dark Tower's saloons and seedy parlors -- a swamp world with sparks of magic that fuel a card game called Parsnip, where each player draws player/location/journey cards and Orates the story to pull all those elements together. Buddy, ever-plagued by bad luck, has struck off to find his wandering-bard and Parsnip fiend of a father after accidentally burning down his mother's bakery. He falls into a deadly adventure much more dangerous than he'd ever expected, and uncovers long-buried secrets about his world and family. This is the second Cajoleas book I've read this summer, and I'm seriously digging his worlds!
Oooh such great world-building! The Rambling takes place in a world that reminded me a lot of The Dark Tower's saloons and seedy parlors -- a swamp world with sparks of magic that fuel a card game called Parsnip, where each player draws player/location/journey cards and Orates the story to pull all those elements together. Buddy, ever-plagued by bad luck, has struck off to find his wandering-bard and Parsnip fiend of a father after accidentally burning down his mother's bakery. He falls into a deadly adventure much more dangerous than he'd ever expected, and uncovers long-buried secrets about his world and family. This is the second Cajoleas book I've read this summer, and I'm seriously digging his worlds!
yuna's review
1.0
DNF at 50%. I just can't. The title is apt because Buddy blathers on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and idk wtf is supposed to be happening but it's boring. It's too bad because I think the worldbuilding/idea behind the game of Parsnit is interesting, but I'm bored to tears by this book and its rambling pace. Buddy is also just...useless.
katetownsend's review
4.0
From the author of Goldeline comes another middle grade fantasy that is sure to sweep readers away. The Rambling is another standalone novel by Jimmy Cajoleas.
Buddy Pennington was born in a small town set on a river that lead to a dark swamp filled with magic. Now, he lives in a quiet, boring town far away from his beloved river and his father. Convinced his luck will be better if lives with his father, Buddy sets off for the river and small house he remembers. But there are reasons Buddy and his mother moved away, reasons Buddy isn’t privy too. No sooner are Buddy and his father reunited than old enemies come knocking. With only his father’s magical Parsnit cards, Buddy must go on a rescue mission, one where he learns about friendship, family, and magic.
Buddy himself narrates this tale, a very befitting choice which becomes clearer the more the reader learns about the magical card game called Parsnit. The prose is wonderful, lyrical, and doesn’t quiet feel as if an eleven-year-old narrates it. Buddy, of course, makes the sorts of mistakes that any eleven year old would be bound to make, but our narrator speaks with the voice of a true storyteller.
The quest our young hero sets out on is one we’ve seen before. Alone and without much information, Buddy sets off after the two men who have kidnapped his father. The farther he follows the trail, the deeper into the swamp he goes. Here, the world is ruled by tradition and fading magic. Things lurk in the swamp that strike fear into people’s hearts, and above it all sits master criminal Boss Authority, gathering up power everywhere he goes. He’s not one to cross, but it seems that’s exactly what Buddy’s father has done.
The world of The Rambling is one of mystery and magic. The story is, by and large, set on a swampy, forested river. Small towns dot the river, inhabited by witches, criminals, and shapeshifters. The atmosphere of magic and the unknown is almost as palpable as the heat and sticky humidity that plagues Buddy’s travels.
Yet, the real star of this show is the game parsnit. This is a card game, but not one played with a typical deck of cards. These cards have no numbers, and the pictures that adorn them change slightly depending on the witch who created them and the player who owns them. Parsnit is a game of stories. Players tell dueling tales depending on what cards come up and in what order. Whoever tells the best story is deemed the winner.
The Rambling by Jimmy Cajoleas is a wonderful middle grade novel of adventure and magic. I devoured this book in a single sitting, just as I did with Cajoleas’s other novel. I cannot wait to see what else this author may have in store for us in the future.
This review and more can be found on Looking Glass Reads.
Buddy Pennington was born in a small town set on a river that lead to a dark swamp filled with magic. Now, he lives in a quiet, boring town far away from his beloved river and his father. Convinced his luck will be better if lives with his father, Buddy sets off for the river and small house he remembers. But there are reasons Buddy and his mother moved away, reasons Buddy isn’t privy too. No sooner are Buddy and his father reunited than old enemies come knocking. With only his father’s magical Parsnit cards, Buddy must go on a rescue mission, one where he learns about friendship, family, and magic.
Buddy himself narrates this tale, a very befitting choice which becomes clearer the more the reader learns about the magical card game called Parsnit. The prose is wonderful, lyrical, and doesn’t quiet feel as if an eleven-year-old narrates it. Buddy, of course, makes the sorts of mistakes that any eleven year old would be bound to make, but our narrator speaks with the voice of a true storyteller.
The quest our young hero sets out on is one we’ve seen before. Alone and without much information, Buddy sets off after the two men who have kidnapped his father. The farther he follows the trail, the deeper into the swamp he goes. Here, the world is ruled by tradition and fading magic. Things lurk in the swamp that strike fear into people’s hearts, and above it all sits master criminal Boss Authority, gathering up power everywhere he goes. He’s not one to cross, but it seems that’s exactly what Buddy’s father has done.
The world of The Rambling is one of mystery and magic. The story is, by and large, set on a swampy, forested river. Small towns dot the river, inhabited by witches, criminals, and shapeshifters. The atmosphere of magic and the unknown is almost as palpable as the heat and sticky humidity that plagues Buddy’s travels.
Yet, the real star of this show is the game parsnit. This is a card game, but not one played with a typical deck of cards. These cards have no numbers, and the pictures that adorn them change slightly depending on the witch who created them and the player who owns them. Parsnit is a game of stories. Players tell dueling tales depending on what cards come up and in what order. Whoever tells the best story is deemed the winner.
The Rambling by Jimmy Cajoleas is a wonderful middle grade novel of adventure and magic. I devoured this book in a single sitting, just as I did with Cajoleas’s other novel. I cannot wait to see what else this author may have in store for us in the future.
This review and more can be found on Looking Glass Reads.
scampneoroxy's review
5.0
This is a such a lyrical, spooky, and imaginative story! The swampy, sticky, lush, oozy and smelly and beautiful backdrop of the river country Buddy ventures into just explodes into my mind's eye, as if the best Orator in the county had told it, and I'm obsessed with finding a Parsnit deck of my own...but maybe just to look at - I don't that luck would favor me any more than she favors Buddy.
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