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melissa_bookworm's review against another edition
4.0
I loved this little book. It sprung the seemingly ordinary Ophelia into a whimsical world with creatures and unknown evils. It reminded me some what of Erin Morgenstern's The Night Circus and gave the feel of a Harry Potter-esque magical world. Just Delightful.
jenmangler's review against another edition
4.0
I adore Ophelia Jane Worthington-Whittard because she's so perfectly imperfect. How could anyone not adore a character who believes "the best way to get to the bottom of things was with questions" and would rather examine a fossil rather than play with dolls? And I love this book, which places goodness and kindness above bravery or strength as the most noble of qualities.
trin's review against another edition
1.0
I think I might have enjoyed this book more if I were in fact a very young child with not too many books under her belt, and not an adult person who has read many, many, many better versions of essentially this same story.
Also, femininity is evil, probably.
Also, femininity is evil, probably.
kathydavie's review against another edition
5.0
This is a fantasy tale for curious children.
I received this story as an ARC from the author.
My Take
An intriguing fairy tale that mixes the wicked queen with the valiant young hero. But with a twist. The wicked queen strongly reminds me of the Snow Queen from Narnia...eek… Yeah, part of that is because she's a queen of cold as well, but it's how she stalks the Marvelous Boy and her utter wickedness.
It's a bit confusing at the start, since it starts in the middle, but persevere. It makes sense. The ending is one of those bittersweet ones, so be prepared to shed a tear or two. And there is hope. I do wish Foxlee had repeated or reinforced the concept of separate planes and the reason why the boy's name is taken a bit more.
Foxlee does a great job in creating tension, and yes, it's a good tension level for kids. Enough to worry them but set in the fairytale mode to take it outside their experience. It's how she progresses with the story that makes it even better. Smooth and easy the tale goes from a medieval period to today and realization slowly slips up on you at the museum.
I love how Foxlee uses words: "delicate morsels of innocence".
How did Alice break the machine? Wasn't it Ophelia??
It's exciting, adventurous, and scary as we tiptoe through exhibits and retrieve lost articles. Avoid the guards...the knitting guards! When they're not knitting, they sleep. Makes for an interesting mind visual! Foxlee includes other great visuals that bring childhood to mind: the blue velvet coat with its torn pocket, the sneaking about Ophelia does, the mess of the museum and its very odd exhibits, and the very careful "seduction" of Alice—a good example to talk over with your kids about stranger danger.
The grief the kids and their father feel over the mother's death is there, a bit removed, and there is one passage that makes me cry in which father says there is all the time in the world for ideas. And it's mother's reply that does me in. Another passage reassures her father that it's okay to be sad about their mother.
Huh, I just got it. I was thinking about how obsessed Ophelia is with time, in particular how many days and hours it's been since their mother died. And the story's denouement revolves around time as well.
Oh, I do hope Foxlee develops this as a series. It could be so much fun!
The Story
The poor Marvelous Boy is co-opted into doing a task for the protectorate of wizards. His name taken from him, his life lengthened, and all to save the world from a wicked queen who knows who he is.
With help from one special someone.
With luck, the inquisitive, curious Ophelia who can't resist poking her nose into every corner might be able to help this boy she finds imprisoned within the museum.
The Characters
Ophelia Jane Worthington-Whittard is a very bright young lady with an inquisitive and active mind. She does belong to the Children's Science Society of Greater London, after all. Her father, Malcolm Whittard, has just gotten a job replacing the suddenly-missing curator for an exhibit, Battle: The Greatest Exhibition of Swords in the History of the World. He's one of those absentminded fathers who gets too involved in his work. Useful for Ophelia. Alice is the older sister with a preference for Goth. One that is reinforced by the death three months ago of their mother, Susan Worthington, a writer of fantasy, an appreciation with which she imbued Ophelia.
The Marvelous Boy is meant to save the world.
The King is a kindly, weak, but selfish boy to whom no one has ever said no.
The Snow Queen is sweet and nice as she insists and provokes and requires.
Lucy Coutts is a mean girl in Ophelia's grade. Max Lowenstein is the cat expert at the Children's Society.
The Museum
Miss Kaminski is the museum curator and very concerned about Ophelia wandering the museum and getting lost. Mr. Pushkinova, the keeper of the Queen's keys, guards the Marvelous Boy; Mrs. V is another guard. Kyra Marinova is one of the ghost girls. And her portrait is up with Tess Janson's, Katie Patin's, Matilda Cole's, Paulette Claude's, Johanna Payne's...
The Protectorate of Wizards
The Great Wizard chose him. Petal makes the biscuits.
Ibrom, Alder, and Abram are three great magical owls who gather sorrow.
The Cover
The cartoony cover is wonderfully promising with its snowy, gloomy setting inside the museum with Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy wondering where to go next while overhead the lurking museum curator watches outside.
The title is who the story is all about: Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy.
I received this story as an ARC from the author.
My Take
An intriguing fairy tale that mixes the wicked queen with the valiant young hero. But with a twist. The wicked queen strongly reminds me of the Snow Queen from Narnia...eek… Yeah, part of that is because she's a queen of cold as well, but it's how she stalks the Marvelous Boy and her utter wickedness.
It's a bit confusing at the start, since it starts in the middle, but persevere. It makes sense. The ending is one of those bittersweet ones, so be prepared to shed a tear or two. And there is hope. I do wish Foxlee had repeated or reinforced the concept of separate planes and the reason why the boy's name is taken a bit more.
Foxlee does a great job in creating tension, and yes, it's a good tension level for kids. Enough to worry them but set in the fairytale mode to take it outside their experience. It's how she progresses with the story that makes it even better. Smooth and easy the tale goes from a medieval period to today and realization slowly slips up on you at the museum.
I love how Foxlee uses words: "delicate morsels of innocence".
How did Alice break the machine? Wasn't it Ophelia??
It's exciting, adventurous, and scary as we tiptoe through exhibits and retrieve lost articles. Avoid the guards...the knitting guards! When they're not knitting, they sleep. Makes for an interesting mind visual! Foxlee includes other great visuals that bring childhood to mind: the blue velvet coat with its torn pocket, the sneaking about Ophelia does, the mess of the museum and its very odd exhibits, and the very careful "seduction" of Alice—a good example to talk over with your kids about stranger danger.
The grief the kids and their father feel over the mother's death is there, a bit removed, and there is one passage that makes me cry in which father says there is all the time in the world for ideas. And it's mother's reply that does me in. Another passage reassures her father that it's okay to be sad about their mother.
Huh, I just got it. I was thinking about how obsessed Ophelia is with time, in particular how many days and hours it's been since their mother died. And the story's denouement revolves around time as well.
Oh, I do hope Foxlee develops this as a series. It could be so much fun!
The Story
The poor Marvelous Boy is co-opted into doing a task for the protectorate of wizards. His name taken from him, his life lengthened, and all to save the world from a wicked queen who knows who he is.
With help from one special someone.
With luck, the inquisitive, curious Ophelia who can't resist poking her nose into every corner might be able to help this boy she finds imprisoned within the museum.
The Characters
Ophelia Jane Worthington-Whittard is a very bright young lady with an inquisitive and active mind. She does belong to the Children's Science Society of Greater London, after all. Her father, Malcolm Whittard, has just gotten a job replacing the suddenly-missing curator for an exhibit, Battle: The Greatest Exhibition of Swords in the History of the World. He's one of those absentminded fathers who gets too involved in his work. Useful for Ophelia. Alice is the older sister with a preference for Goth. One that is reinforced by the death three months ago of their mother, Susan Worthington, a writer of fantasy, an appreciation with which she imbued Ophelia.
The Marvelous Boy is meant to save the world.
The King is a kindly, weak, but selfish boy to whom no one has ever said no.
The Snow Queen is sweet and nice as she insists and provokes and requires.
Lucy Coutts is a mean girl in Ophelia's grade. Max Lowenstein is the cat expert at the Children's Society.
The Museum
Miss Kaminski is the museum curator and very concerned about Ophelia wandering the museum and getting lost. Mr. Pushkinova, the keeper of the Queen's keys, guards the Marvelous Boy; Mrs. V is another guard. Kyra Marinova is one of the ghost girls. And her portrait is up with Tess Janson's, Katie Patin's, Matilda Cole's, Paulette Claude's, Johanna Payne's...
The Protectorate of Wizards
The Great Wizard chose him. Petal makes the biscuits.
Ibrom, Alder, and Abram are three great magical owls who gather sorrow.
The Cover
The cartoony cover is wonderfully promising with its snowy, gloomy setting inside the museum with Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy wondering where to go next while overhead the lurking museum curator watches outside.
The title is who the story is all about: Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy.
allicatca's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed listening to this book. I think the story is intriguing and well-crafted. I figured out some important plot points before the end of the story but that didn't stop me from wanting to know the resolution.
I told each of my kids how the Marvelous Boy didn't age and how his name had been taken by wizards to protect the boy from the Snow Queen and each child was intrigued.
The book has a few scary parts so I'd say it's best for age 10+.
It has good vocabulary and would make a good school read aloud.
I told each of my kids how the Marvelous Boy didn't age and how his name had been taken by wizards to protect the boy from the Snow Queen and each child was intrigued.
The book has a few scary parts so I'd say it's best for age 10+.
It has good vocabulary and would make a good school read aloud.
boo_biscuits's review against another edition
3.0
Really enjoyed this book. It was short and sweet. Probably took me about 24 hours and most of those hours I was working. LOL I loved the visuals I got of the museum and the queen. She seemed terrifying. Ophelia herself was going through a lot of changes (her mother recently died) that seemed relevant to what she was dealing with in her adventures with the marvelous boy. I really loved how her mothers voice in her head really coached her to be brave and move on with her life in a way that you would think a mother really would.
bookph1le's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this book! What a wonderful work of middle grade fiction that left me with tears in my eyes at the end. Full of fantasy, excitement, and an extremely touching tale about a mother's love. More complete review to come.
kg_wulf's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
alli_thebookgiraffe's review against another edition
4.0
this was a great book. looking forward to reading more from foxlee in the future.