Reviews

Sunlight and Shadow: A Retelling of the Magic Flute by Cameron Dokey

novelette's review against another edition

3.0

When I finally got into it, the book was a nice quick read

aggressive_nostalgia's review against another edition

This was surprisingly good. Not brilliant, but fun and - I felt - fairly original (although I have never seen The Magic Flute, so I can't make a judgement there). Tern and Lapin were my favorites (go figure, I'd like the two named after animals), especially Tern. He was so funny! My only major complaints are that this story was very short, and the Mage of the Day seemed to make the transition from self-centered heartless villain to repentant father/husband in the space of about a page. Still, very cool. I have a friend who likes this series, and I'll probably look into her other recommendations.

qu33nofbookz's review against another edition

1.0

Way way to many changes to POV all without telling you who is speaking, sometime it changes from paragraph to paragraph. All the characters are uninspired and with all the changes I didn't care about any of them. Also for being a retelling of the Magic FLUTE there was surprisingly little flute action, it was all about some bells. The logic in this book went out the window within the first chapter or two as well. Apparently anything goes in this land. Also the dialogue, very poorly done. Are we in ancient times or modern, pick a speak pattern and stay with it. One of the characters was written in the style of a bratty teen from this decade who if I met in real life I would have given a solid wack or two for talking to me like that. Also I get that this is a fairy tale series but all this instalove has got to stop or at least slow down. A song of the heart calls you to someone (you are 16 and know yourself so well that you are set for life, mus be nice). You see an image of this person, not the person just the image and know that you will love this person forever and do anything for them. Meet person and risk death, get happy ever after. I am kinda sorry I wasted my time on this story.

writer09's review

adventurous lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

spinch4's review against another edition

4.0

Sunlight and Shadow by Cameron Dokey
A very well done retelling of the Magic Flute. It was interesting getting perspectives from so many different characters. I liked Lapin best.

ifyouhappentoremember's review against another edition

3.0

This is an interesting enough retelling of The Magic Flute.

It suffers from serious pacing issues though. There is a lot of set up and backstory and it all ends in a rushed climax.

riskyduck's review against another edition

3.0

A lot happens in this fairy tale book inspired by "The Magic Flute." 3 happy couples are formed and a lot of destiny fulfilling goes on. The story itself, nor the characters (although I did like Lapin a lot) were all that riveting. But! I did enjoy reading it, especially with all the changing viewpoints. It made the book much more interesting.

sqeeker's review against another edition

2.0

This book was a bit odd. The way that the author shifts the point of view from character to character is a bit confusing, but you get used to it after a while. The overall story was blah for me. It was a bit cheesy, and there was a lot going on. I think the author tried to do too much in a short time. The characters were ok, some were better than others.

themadmadmadeline's review against another edition

4.0

This was great. Very much like a fairy tale, and very beautifully written.

mandimsadler's review against another edition

2.0

loved the tale, but disappointed in how much the style bothered me. It's clearly YA, which I used to LOVE, but the switches between court language and cheesy modern sarcasm just annoyed me. I remember completely devouring this entire series, as well as anything by Cameron Dokey I could find. What's changed since then?? Why don't I love these works anymore? Have I lost the ability to enjoy YA fiction???