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A review by marlan
Falcon Quinn and the Black Mirror by Jennifer Finney Boylan
2.0
A fun Harry Potter-esque fantasy with good characters. It seemed to be a little more gross-out than Harry Potter, like the difference between Cabbage Patch Kids and Garbage Pail Kids, if you're old enough to get that reference. Maybe not as gross-out as that, but that felt like the main difference. Also not so much focus on world-building - there are vampires and Frankenstien('s monsters) that were...born to other vampires and Frankensteins, zombies that were never dead...all the mythologies of these individual monsters are shrugged off, so don't think too much about it.
I laughed quite a bit, and the characters aren't just another set of Harry, Ron, and Hermione - they have their own personalities. The theme was hammered in too hard, but maybe that's normal for middle-grade fiction? I'm obviously not the audience for this, and I think any adult who's looking for another Harry Potter is going to find this a little light. If you hate the idea of authors "copying" Harry Potter on principle, then this is definitely not for you. But for a child between 8-12 who's reading at their grade level and who likes "gross stuff," this might be a good fit.
I'm reluctant to rate because I'm not the intended audience. For me (an adult who prefers adult lit), it was a 2 - lots of things happening, but not enough emotional and relationship development to keep me involved. For a child who likes funny fantasy-adventure books - I'd say 3 or 4 stars.
I laughed quite a bit, and the characters aren't just another set of Harry, Ron, and Hermione - they have their own personalities. The theme was hammered in too hard, but maybe that's normal for middle-grade fiction? I'm obviously not the audience for this, and I think any adult who's looking for another Harry Potter is going to find this a little light. If you hate the idea of authors "copying" Harry Potter on principle, then this is definitely not for you. But for a child between 8-12 who's reading at their grade level and who likes "gross stuff," this might be a good fit.
I'm reluctant to rate because I'm not the intended audience. For me (an adult who prefers adult lit), it was a 2 - lots of things happening, but not enough emotional and relationship development to keep me involved. For a child who likes funny fantasy-adventure books - I'd say 3 or 4 stars.