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sevenacrebooks's review
4.0
Full Review can be found at www.sevenacrebooks.com
In Half World, we follow young Melanie on a life changing journey through the realms. Melanie is always on the outside, lonely, unpopular, and living with her unstable mother. Living on the edge of poverty and without any family, Melanie is barely hanging on to her mother who is spending more and more of her time drinking. While trying to avoid the mean girls at school, Melanie finds herself at home in an empty apartment. Her mother, who barely leaves the apartment is now missing.
Following a string of mysterious clues, Melanie learns of the three realms: the Realm of Flesh, the Realm of Spirit, and Half World. With the help of a kind neighbor and her magical gifts, Melanie makes her way to Half World to find her mother. Once there, Melanie finds a world of unlikely human-animal hybrids, impossible buildings, and nightmares come to life; a world ruled by the evil Mr. Glueskin. Melanie must believe in herself in order to find the strength to rescue her mother from the evil ruler and free all of those who are stuck in his vicious cycle of half living.
I’m not usually one for coming of age stories. They tend to be overly sweet and angsty. This one really hit the right balance for me. Melanie is fourteen. She’s overweight, unpopular, and not the best at school. Yet, she is still able to find her way to another realm, defeat every obstacle that comes her way-barely, and save the world. It’s the barely part that I appreciate. She nearly gives up over and over again.
In to YA Fantasy? Try this one out. It doesn’t disappoint.
In Half World, we follow young Melanie on a life changing journey through the realms. Melanie is always on the outside, lonely, unpopular, and living with her unstable mother. Living on the edge of poverty and without any family, Melanie is barely hanging on to her mother who is spending more and more of her time drinking. While trying to avoid the mean girls at school, Melanie finds herself at home in an empty apartment. Her mother, who barely leaves the apartment is now missing.
Following a string of mysterious clues, Melanie learns of the three realms: the Realm of Flesh, the Realm of Spirit, and Half World. With the help of a kind neighbor and her magical gifts, Melanie makes her way to Half World to find her mother. Once there, Melanie finds a world of unlikely human-animal hybrids, impossible buildings, and nightmares come to life; a world ruled by the evil Mr. Glueskin. Melanie must believe in herself in order to find the strength to rescue her mother from the evil ruler and free all of those who are stuck in his vicious cycle of half living.
I’m not usually one for coming of age stories. They tend to be overly sweet and angsty. This one really hit the right balance for me. Melanie is fourteen. She’s overweight, unpopular, and not the best at school. Yet, she is still able to find her way to another realm, defeat every obstacle that comes her way-barely, and save the world. It’s the barely part that I appreciate. She nearly gives up over and over again.
In to YA Fantasy? Try this one out. It doesn’t disappoint.
sefi's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
jocecily's review
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
happentobeshort's review
3.0
I honestly thought this was a graphic novel at first as Jillian Tamaki is credited with illustrations, but nope! This is actually a short YA novel with some illustrations instead! Not even a little bit mad as this was the kind of fun and easy read I wanted for Spooktober. This book had a very Miyazaki feel to it, but like if Guillermo del Toro had control over the looks. The beginning is a bit confusing and wordy, but it starts getting interesting fast, which was good because at that stage I wasn't really bonding with the character and wasn't sure if I was going to continue reading. The Half World realm is really creepy and gross, and paired with the few illustrations in the book, it's quite easy to conjure the images in your mind, which I think really increased my enjoyment of the story. Long story short, I enjoyed it and am glad I was able to find it in my local library! There's apparently a sequel, but I don't think I'd read it.
https://hercommonplaceblog.wordpress.com
https://hercommonplaceblog.wordpress.com
gremlinjane's review
4.0
Unusual fantasy YA, often with real darkness to it. But there were important lessons littered throughout. The main character felt very real.
cloudslikethis's review
2.0
This book had such an interesting premise and such beautiful illustrations but it just wasn't as great as it could have been. I did not connect with any of the characters and it was hard to "see" anything. Half World was fascinating and all of the creatures were creepy and unique but it all felt kind of flat to me. It was like someone tried to write a tie-in book to a Miyazaki film, I dunno. I didn't hate it though, it was a good story but just not great. I wouldn't mind trying another of this author's work because she does have some beautiful passages and I know she has a book about Asian immigrants in Canada which seems interesting.
arisbookcorner's review
4.0
Melanie is chubby, dubbed a 'slow learner' in school, and so she is bullied. I never felt connected to Melanie though. I sympathised with her being made fun of, but that was about all I felt for her. Sympathy. We don't learn much about Melanie's life, all we know is that she is poor, picked on and loves to read. I wanted to learn more about her history. I also would have liked to know where her story took place in the real world (my guess would be Canada just because that's where the author lives but I'm not sure). Melanie seemed rather immature too, maybe it's just me thinking I was oh-so-mature when I was fourteen. I also NEEDED more story about her parents and the other secondary characters Melanie runs into. I realize that Melanie didn't really have time to learn the life story of all the people she met but I wished we had gotten a better glimpse of all the characters. Perhaps a prequel is needed? Or a sequel? I would read it! I could take or leave the illustrations. They were nice, but they didn't contribute a great deal to the story. However I loved that the illustrator never drew the creatures of the Half World that were described in such vivid and stomach-churning detail (keep in my mind, I get scared easily so this was good for me). This allowed the reader to imagine the characters and I think that works better for this novel, the creatures are YOUR worst nightmares.
I did admire Melanie's soft power. Melanie is brave because she has to be, but like any teenager, she's utterly terrified of Mr. Glueskin and fears for the safety of her mom. Yet Melanie doesn't make any grand heroic gestures, she pauses and really weighs the consequences. She resists doing what she knows she needs to do. She's SCARED and that's normal and did make her a bit easier to relate to. In order to enter the Half World, an unpleasant task is required (and it's rather random, I wonder if the particular body part is meant to symbolize something?). The Half World is the place where mortals go after dying, it's a sort of dream world. In the Half World, mortals must relieve their greatest trauma they experienced while living (also known as the Realm of Flesh) until they are able to resolve the issue. It reminded me a bit of Purgatory. There are three worlds: the Realm of Flesh, the Half World and the Realm of Spirit (which is like Heaven in my mind). I was reminded of a recent post at The Enchanted Inkpot called Lost in Translation which talks about how symbols used in fantasy in the West can mean different things than in the East. For example, in Half World, I think crows are meant to be a good omen, but in Western culture, crows are a bad omen. I did some research and found that crows in Japan are thought to be a sign of the gods and thus are held in high regard.
Half World is a splendid book. The world building is excellent, the characters and scenes described are grotesque and yet completely enthralling. The action is fast-paced and Melanie is not the typical heroine who can do anything and has mysterious magical powers. She's mostly normal and her feelings of terror at being in the Half World and facing the dreadful Mr. Glueskin (and his glue-y tongue, yuck!) are ones that I could relate to as a teenager. While I think there is a lack of character development and back story, I'm ecstatic that I can confidently recommend a YA fantasy with a multicultural cast (or just a great fantasy) and strong females who are not the typical 'warrior'. In fact, most of the women in this book are fierce but they would be considered fragile, their power appears almost out-of necessity, the adrenaline kicks in and then they harness this new found strength. Also, I think it's a bonus that this book has no hint of romance, instead it focuses on a strong mother-daughter bond and that is absolutely refreshing. Melanie starts out too dependent on her mother and she becomes more independent and at the same time her bond with her mother is strengthened.
Read a good interview with the author http://coloronline.blogspot.com/2010/12/wwoc-hiromi-goto.html
I did admire Melanie's soft power. Melanie is brave because she has to be, but like any teenager, she's utterly terrified of Mr. Glueskin and fears for the safety of her mom. Yet Melanie doesn't make any grand heroic gestures, she pauses and really weighs the consequences. She resists doing what she knows she needs to do. She's SCARED and that's normal and did make her a bit easier to relate to. In order to enter the Half World, an unpleasant task is required (and it's rather random, I wonder if the particular body part is meant to symbolize something?). The Half World is the place where mortals go after dying, it's a sort of dream world. In the Half World, mortals must relieve their greatest trauma they experienced while living (also known as the Realm of Flesh) until they are able to resolve the issue. It reminded me a bit of Purgatory. There are three worlds: the Realm of Flesh, the Half World and the Realm of Spirit (which is like Heaven in my mind). I was reminded of a recent post at The Enchanted Inkpot called Lost in Translation which talks about how symbols used in fantasy in the West can mean different things than in the East. For example, in Half World, I think crows are meant to be a good omen, but in Western culture, crows are a bad omen. I did some research and found that crows in Japan are thought to be a sign of the gods and thus are held in high regard.
Half World is a splendid book. The world building is excellent, the characters and scenes described are grotesque and yet completely enthralling. The action is fast-paced and Melanie is not the typical heroine who can do anything and has mysterious magical powers. She's mostly normal and her feelings of terror at being in the Half World and facing the dreadful Mr. Glueskin (and his glue-y tongue, yuck!) are ones that I could relate to as a teenager. While I think there is a lack of character development and back story, I'm ecstatic that I can confidently recommend a YA fantasy with a multicultural cast (or just a great fantasy) and strong females who are not the typical 'warrior'. In fact, most of the women in this book are fierce but they would be considered fragile, their power appears almost out-of necessity, the adrenaline kicks in and then they harness this new found strength. Also, I think it's a bonus that this book has no hint of romance, instead it focuses on a strong mother-daughter bond and that is absolutely refreshing. Melanie starts out too dependent on her mother and she becomes more independent and at the same time her bond with her mother is strengthened.
Read a good interview with the author http://coloronline.blogspot.com/2010/12/wwoc-hiromi-goto.html
valtarii's review
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
magneticcrow's review
4.0
This books reads like something out of a book of folklore, embellished with too-real, too-modern elements of the main character's suffering. There are really no easy spots for Melanie. Even when she finally realizes just how special she is, she's still a captive of the nightmare denizens of Half World.
The ending is bittersweet as well, setting the stage for the next novel. Which I must say I'm looking forward to.
The ending is bittersweet as well, setting the stage for the next novel. Which I must say I'm looking forward to.