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beammey's review against another edition
4.0
Not my favorite book by Mr. Oppel, but still a very fun, fast-paced read. I enjoyed it very much. Worth the read if you like adventure stories with a hint of romance. 4 out of 5 stars. Very good.
melishi211's review against another edition
5.0
The CPR is near and dear to my heart as my father works for them. I grew up around tracks and trains. The Boundless while highly fantastical, is deeply engaging and I am remind why Kenneth Oppel is one of my favorites.
odurant8's review against another edition
4.0
Kenneth Oppel excels at writing edge-of-your-seat adventures. I was holding my breath at many points throughout the story, and the characters were all interesting. I can't wait to start recommending this to patrons.
katdfleming's review against another edition
5.0
A wonderful adventurous book! I would love to ride the Boundless!
protoman21's review against another edition
4.0
The Boundless is another entertaining adventure from Kenneth Oppel. He has a grasp on action scenes in Teen or younger books like nobody else writing today and I wish more people would try his books out. While this fell a little short of the Matt Cruse series, it had much the same appeal but with its own charm. The story moves along as fast as The Boundless itself!
rjdenney's review against another edition
1.0
1 STAR!
I really, really wanted to enjoy this book. It had trains, which I love, it took place in an alternate Victorian era, and it was an adventure. But alas I could not get past two very big things, the first it being so incredibly boring and slow. It took at least 200 pages to get going and it takes place on a train which you'd think would go by even quicker, but no. There's also a hint of romance in this which I wasn't for, you all know how I feel about MG books with romance in them. I don't like it. This could've been a favorite of mine, and that cover!! it's gorgeous but it just didn't work out for me. NOW! let's get to the second and most important to me, the usage of Blackface/Brownface as a disguise. I won't spoil it too much but Blackface/Brownface is used on the main character in this book and how the author didn't see that that was a gigantic no-no is beyond me. And what bothers me even more is that other reviews on Goodreads haven't mentioned this.
Lately I've been seeing a discussion going around on Twitter about authors who write historical fiction disregarding diversity because of the time period they write in and I think it's a load of bull. It's historical FICTION for a reason, you can do whatever you want with it. So using the time periods as an excuse needs to stop. And I feel like that is the argument that would be used in this book's case. But as I said above, this takes place in an alternate Victorian era, again ALTERNATE so this is the author's own creation of the Victorian era we are reading and maybe the usage of Blackface/Brownface was unintentional, but still, it doesn't mean it isn't WRONG.
All in all I'd say to pass on this. Something I would recommend better than this is The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick. Now that is a Historical Fiction Middle-Grade book done right with lots of adventure and an amazing young protagonist. - Richard
I really, really wanted to enjoy this book. It had trains, which I love, it took place in an alternate Victorian era, and it was an adventure. But alas I could not get past two very big things, the first it being so incredibly boring and slow. It took at least 200 pages to get going and it takes place on a train which you'd think would go by even quicker, but no. There's also a hint of romance in this which I wasn't for, you all know how I feel about MG books with romance in them. I don't like it. This could've been a favorite of mine, and that cover!! it's gorgeous but it just didn't work out for me. NOW! let's get to the second and most important to me, the usage of Blackface/Brownface as a disguise. I won't spoil it too much but Blackface/Brownface is used on the main character in this book and how the author didn't see that that was a gigantic no-no is beyond me. And what bothers me even more is that other reviews on Goodreads haven't mentioned this.
Lately I've been seeing a discussion going around on Twitter about authors who write historical fiction disregarding diversity because of the time period they write in and I think it's a load of bull. It's historical FICTION for a reason, you can do whatever you want with it. So using the time periods as an excuse needs to stop. And I feel like that is the argument that would be used in this book's case. But as I said above, this takes place in an alternate Victorian era, again ALTERNATE so this is the author's own creation of the Victorian era we are reading and maybe the usage of Blackface/Brownface was unintentional, but still, it doesn't mean it isn't WRONG.
All in all I'd say to pass on this. Something I would recommend better than this is The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick. Now that is a Historical Fiction Middle-Grade book done right with lots of adventure and an amazing young protagonist. - Richard
nic_fish's review against another edition
4.0
full of action. enjoyed the historic value after a grade school assignment on the last spike.
melissa_reads_books's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
5.0
jessethereader's review against another edition
4.0
Here's a video with my thoughts on The Boundless: http://youtu.be/6nuH8l8MRkE
ashley_choo's review against another edition
5.0
Freaking LOVED this book. The sasquatches and the HAG are going to haunt me for a long time.