Reviews

The Nest by Kenneth Oppel, Jon Klassen

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lurieta's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Content Warnings

myliege's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

lauracooleyjohnson's review against another edition

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4.0

I read this at the recommendation of my teen after seeing the biggest wasp EVER. I’m allergic to bees so this was a bit freaky. And yet there were messages of good, evil, and making peace with fears that make this interesting. Plus, you’ll finish it in 2 hours.

olivia_b2509's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

trin's review against another edition

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5.0

The Nest sets a high bar for itself: this a book for middle-grade readers about a kid with OCD who becomes convinced that a telepathic wasp queen is communicating with him through dreams, promising to "fix" his deathly ill baby brother. There are so, so many places where a novel with this premise could go horribly wrong, but author Kenneth Oppel is some sort of literary gymnastics champion and totally sticks his landing. The tone of book is perfect throughout; Oppel, to continue the gymnastics metaphor, maintains perfect balance between the emotional reality of what his protagonist, Steve, is experiencing and the fantastic -- and fantastically horrifying -- forces he's up against. This is a creepy, unsettling story, but like The Graveyard Book and Coraline before it, I feel like the way it confronts certain nightmare imagery will actually help kids understand fears they've already experienced -- and provide catharsis when Steve ultimately defeats his (metaphorical and not-so-metaphorical) demons. The Nest is an amazing novel -- vivid, fast-paced, and really about stuff in a way few adult novels are, or are so effectively. Parents should give this to their kids, and kids to their parents.