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mariahistryingtoread's review against another edition
2.0
The Luck Uglies was a solid read. I recently read Goblin Secrets by William Alexander and this reminded me a great deal of that book; the worldbuilding is really strong but all other aspects vary from pretty good to meh.
Rye lives in the village of Drowning. Mysterious things start happening that suggest the thought to be extinct Bog Noblins - terrifying goblin-esque creatures that eat people and delight in mass carnage - have returned. As this threat begins to loom ever closer Rye must grapple with the many secrets that the Bog Noblin has brought into the light.
This book is way too slow. Literally every twist outside of one was easy to figure out because of how much time was spent building to it. Part of that can be attributed to the fact that this is for a younger audience and as an adult I'm more inclined to put pieces together that a kid may not see. However, I think outside of that it really was just that obvious. As you're sitting there waiting for something to finally be revealed you're just picking up more and more evidence of what's going on. And it reaches a point where it's no longer fun. I wasn't happy I was right or surprised I missed it once a secret was divulged. I was just frustrated that it took so long when I not only had been waiting for several chapters too many, but also had been hit over the head repeatedly with foreshadowing. It's telling that the only secret I didn't guess was the one that wasn't telegraphed at all.
In related news, situations felt very manufactured in order to stall for time. Despite Rye being established as an inquisitive, independent kid she doesn't push for answers from her mother at all. Her mother will give an evasive response and Rye will just throw up her hands. This is especially ridiculous as events begin to unravel because it also makes no sense why her mother continues to avoid answering at this point. It was very bizarre that it all was being tiptoed around in the story with no logical reason for it. For example, when this character Harmless shows up Rye meets with him without telling her mother. But, after she gets caught meeting with him literally nothing happens? Like her mother doesn't tell her not to see him or get mad or anything. She just makes Rye leave and that's it. This non reaction doesn't make any sense and it does a disservice to the character to act like this.
Rye constantly is like 'my mom is firm and I'll get in trouble if I do x, y, z' but that's not true at all. The above was only one example, but Rye disobeys her mother from the moment this book starts to the bitter end. She lies to her, runs off on her own, and overall shows no regard or consideration for potential consequences. But who can blame her when her mother doesn't even try to punish her? Her mother barely even raises her voice. Rye might as well have been an orphan if her mother wasn't going to actually be a mother. It ruined a lot of the tension.
Abby is not the only ineffectual character. Most of the cast is fairly inconsequential. Rye has two best friends that might as well be one friend for all the impact they have individually. There's just enough personality that I wouldn't call them flat, but I didn't like either one all that much. Rye's friend Folly has a slew of siblings who are given one specific gimmick each and then not developed any further. Since they were minor characters I'm not surprised they didn't get a lot of growth. Still, it did make it hard to keep track of them when they did get page time. Quinn is just straight up boring. I wanted one twist to be about him so badly to finally make him somewhat interesting. Harmless is fun, but borders on the very edge of too quirky. I'm crossing my fingers he won't get worse in subsequent books.
I thought the overarching conflict was great. Earl Longchance is a delightfully hateable villain. I truly felt immersed in the conflict. It was uncomfortably relatable to witness this toad of a man gleefully throw his people under the bus to soothe his own ego. Malydia Longchance, the Earl's daughter, was a frustratingly sympathetic character who I probably look forward to reading about the most in future installments.
The worldbuilding is the best part. The conflict wouldn't have worked nearly as well if the village hadn't been constructed so strongly. The plot relies heavily on class politics and Durham did a good job crafting a convincing universe. No plot holes or weird magical systems in sight. I will say, however, some of the descriptions of the action toward the end were difficult for me to envision.
I wavered a lot between giving this two or three stars, but I decided to go with two in the end because of often I'd slip into passively listening more than active interest. I do plan on reading the rest of the series, but admittedly I'm not all that excited. It's more to finish it just to finish.
Rye lives in the village of Drowning. Mysterious things start happening that suggest the thought to be extinct Bog Noblins - terrifying goblin-esque creatures that eat people and delight in mass carnage - have returned. As this threat begins to loom ever closer Rye must grapple with the many secrets that the Bog Noblin has brought into the light.
This book is way too slow. Literally every twist outside of one was easy to figure out because of how much time was spent building to it. Part of that can be attributed to the fact that this is for a younger audience and as an adult I'm more inclined to put pieces together that a kid may not see. However, I think outside of that it really was just that obvious. As you're sitting there waiting for something to finally be revealed you're just picking up more and more evidence of what's going on. And it reaches a point where it's no longer fun. I wasn't happy I was right or surprised I missed it once a secret was divulged. I was just frustrated that it took so long when I not only had been waiting for several chapters too many, but also had been hit over the head repeatedly with foreshadowing. It's telling that the only secret I didn't guess was the one that wasn't telegraphed at all.
In related news, situations felt very manufactured in order to stall for time. Despite Rye being established as an inquisitive, independent kid she doesn't push for answers from her mother at all. Her mother will give an evasive response and Rye will just throw up her hands. This is especially ridiculous as events begin to unravel because it also makes no sense why her mother continues to avoid answering at this point. It was very bizarre that it all was being tiptoed around in the story with no logical reason for it. For example, when this character Harmless shows up Rye meets with him without telling her mother. But, after she gets caught meeting with him literally nothing happens? Like her mother doesn't tell her not to see him or get mad or anything. She just makes Rye leave and that's it. This non reaction doesn't make any sense and it does a disservice to the character to act like this.
Rye constantly is like 'my mom is firm and I'll get in trouble if I do x, y, z' but that's not true at all. The above was only one example, but Rye disobeys her mother from the moment this book starts to the bitter end. She lies to her, runs off on her own, and overall shows no regard or consideration for potential consequences. But who can blame her when her mother doesn't even try to punish her? Her mother barely even raises her voice. Rye might as well have been an orphan if her mother wasn't going to actually be a mother. It ruined a lot of the tension.
Abby is not the only ineffectual character. Most of the cast is fairly inconsequential. Rye has two best friends that might as well be one friend for all the impact they have individually. There's just enough personality that I wouldn't call them flat, but I didn't like either one all that much. Rye's friend Folly has a slew of siblings who are given one specific gimmick each and then not developed any further. Since they were minor characters I'm not surprised they didn't get a lot of growth. Still, it did make it hard to keep track of them when they did get page time. Quinn is just straight up boring. I wanted one twist to be about him so badly to finally make him somewhat interesting. Harmless is fun, but borders on the very edge of too quirky. I'm crossing my fingers he won't get worse in subsequent books.
I thought the overarching conflict was great. Earl Longchance is a delightfully hateable villain. I truly felt immersed in the conflict. It was uncomfortably relatable to witness this toad of a man gleefully throw his people under the bus to soothe his own ego. Malydia Longchance, the Earl's daughter, was a frustratingly sympathetic character who I probably look forward to reading about the most in future installments.
The worldbuilding is the best part. The conflict wouldn't have worked nearly as well if the village hadn't been constructed so strongly. The plot relies heavily on class politics and Durham did a good job crafting a convincing universe. No plot holes or weird magical systems in sight. I will say, however, some of the descriptions of the action toward the end were difficult for me to envision.
I wavered a lot between giving this two or three stars, but I decided to go with two in the end because of often I'd slip into passively listening more than active interest. I do plan on reading the rest of the series, but admittedly I'm not all that excited. It's more to finish it just to finish.
khushg's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
hayleybeale's review against another edition
4.0
Winner of the 2014 Cybil for Elementary/Middle Grade Speculative Fiction, this is an exciting adventure set in a world filled with marvelously well-drawn characters. See my full review here.
adrianneadelle's review against another edition
4.0
This is a great series. So fun and inventive. I love the world Durham has created!
brandypainter's review against another edition
4.0
Originally posted here at Random Musings of a Bibliophile.
When I first saw the cover and description for The Luck Uglies by Paul Durham, I knew it was a book I had to read. It is a great MG Fantasy that combines folklore, ruffians, and adventure to tell a fun a story.
I read an ARC provided by publisher in exchange for a fair review.
In many ways The Luck Uglies is a familiar story. It is typical of its genre in theme, setting, and characters. I enjoyed this aspect of it. I knew what I was getting and what to expect, and while what it does is nothing terribly new, it is done incredibly well. And most readers in the target audience will not have read as many fantasies of this type. They will thoroughly enjoy discovering this type of book through The Luck Uglies.
Rye is an adventurous girl who does not always make the best decisions. She is a child though and the often ridiculous things she does make perfect sense in her young mind. I could see a lot of my daughter in her while I was reading, and this will be a book I think she would love. Rye has two best friends, one boy one girl (of course) and a wonderful mother and little sister. This is a family story as much as it is anything else, and those are always great reads. Combining a good family story with action, adventure, and some monsters to terrorize a village always makes for a fun read.
The Bog Noblins are an eery monster, fierce and scary. They eat animals and people, viciously tearing them apart in the process. Durham does not shy away from the gory horror of this and there are some cringe worthy scenes that most kids are going to love. The Bog Noblins aren't the only evil lurking in Village Drowning. In fact, they aren't event the worst of the evil. There is also the dastardly Lord of the village, who is not hesitant to sacrifice his people to save his own life. Durham explores some interesting themes through this.
The Luck Uglies is the first in a trilogy, but I didn't know that when I read it. It is a complete and full story in and of itself and can be read as a stand alone.
This is an excellent and fun book, one that I will be delighted to hand to my students who I'm sure will love it.
I read an e-galley provided by the publisher, Harper Children's, via Edelweiss. The Luck Uglies will be available for purchase on April 9.
When I first saw the cover and description for The Luck Uglies by Paul Durham, I knew it was a book I had to read. It is a great MG Fantasy that combines folklore, ruffians, and adventure to tell a fun a story.
I read an ARC provided by publisher in exchange for a fair review.
In many ways The Luck Uglies is a familiar story. It is typical of its genre in theme, setting, and characters. I enjoyed this aspect of it. I knew what I was getting and what to expect, and while what it does is nothing terribly new, it is done incredibly well. And most readers in the target audience will not have read as many fantasies of this type. They will thoroughly enjoy discovering this type of book through The Luck Uglies.
Rye is an adventurous girl who does not always make the best decisions. She is a child though and the often ridiculous things she does make perfect sense in her young mind. I could see a lot of my daughter in her while I was reading, and this will be a book I think she would love. Rye has two best friends, one boy one girl (of course) and a wonderful mother and little sister. This is a family story as much as it is anything else, and those are always great reads. Combining a good family story with action, adventure, and some monsters to terrorize a village always makes for a fun read.
The Bog Noblins are an eery monster, fierce and scary. They eat animals and people, viciously tearing them apart in the process. Durham does not shy away from the gory horror of this and there are some cringe worthy scenes that most kids are going to love. The Bog Noblins aren't the only evil lurking in Village Drowning. In fact, they aren't event the worst of the evil. There is also the dastardly Lord of the village, who is not hesitant to sacrifice his people to save his own life. Durham explores some interesting themes through this.
The Luck Uglies is the first in a trilogy, but I didn't know that when I read it. It is a complete and full story in and of itself and can be read as a stand alone.
This is an excellent and fun book, one that I will be delighted to hand to my students who I'm sure will love it.
I read an e-galley provided by the publisher, Harper Children's, via Edelweiss. The Luck Uglies will be available for purchase on April 9.
selphin's review against another edition
4.0
The Luck Uglies is the first book of a planned trilogy. Good thing too, because about 60% through the book, I realized that the world Riley (Rye) lived in was too big and interesting to have only one book. As a result, I had to look up whether the book was part of a series.
I also grew fond of Truitt, a boy around Rye's age who helps her with some of her more dire situations. I felt that he could be fleshed out a lot more and am looking forward to seeing more of him in the upcoming books. They could potentially form a very wonderful friendship.
Rye has two close friends already-Quinn and Folly. I have a small thing against main characters that already have close friends at the start of the story, but I can live with it. They weren't unlikeable. And they had strengths that Rye was lacking which made them useful to the plot.
There were one or two mysteries that Rye could have figured out earlier, but it didn't take away from how likeable her character was. She figured things out in time, which made the story move quickly. And the book did move quickly. I breezed through it compared to the last book I read which I couldn't wait to finish.
Around the climax, some scenes, or maybe it was the writing, felt a little awkward. I can't remember any specific examples so maybe they weren't that big of a deal.
This book also has several funny moments that made me chuckle.
The man nicknamed Harmless is so charismatic. His character design just adds to that charm.
And that cover art is my favorite style of art-soft colors, not too loud. There's more art inside the book at the beginning of each chapter.
I also grew fond of Truitt, a boy around Rye's age who helps her with some of her more dire situations. I felt that he could be fleshed out a lot more and am looking forward to seeing more of him in the upcoming books. They could potentially form a very wonderful friendship.
Rye has two close friends already-Quinn and Folly. I have a small thing against main characters that already have close friends at the start of the story, but I can live with it. They weren't unlikeable. And they had strengths that Rye was lacking which made them useful to the plot.
There were one or two mysteries that Rye could have figured out earlier, but it didn't take away from how likeable her character was. She figured things out in time, which made the story move quickly. And the book did move quickly. I breezed through it compared to the last book I read which I couldn't wait to finish.
Around the climax, some scenes, or maybe it was the writing, felt a little awkward. I can't remember any specific examples so maybe they weren't that big of a deal.
This book also has several funny moments that made me chuckle.
The man nicknamed Harmless is so charismatic. His character design just adds to that charm.
And that cover art is my favorite style of art-soft colors, not too loud. There's more art inside the book at the beginning of each chapter.
jappy97's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
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? It's complicated
4.5