I finished this one and enjoyed it more than I thought I would. :)
David is a young boy who loses his mother and has to face a new life with his father, his stepmother Rose, and his half brother Georgie. England is dealing with war in 1939 and David escapes into the garden only to find a secret passage into another world with a voice coming out of it that sounds like his mother. He does not know what he is in for and has to learn to fight his fears with the help of a Woodsman. The wolves are sick of the king and want to take over but The Crooked Man stands in their way. Will David ever find his way out of this world and go back home?
John Connolly is a wonderful writer. The descriptions in this book were wonderful and I really was able to see this fantasy world that David found. Every word written had its purpose and though scary at times I kept on reading to find out what happened. The part of the books talking to David fascinated me the most because there are times when I wish they would do that for me so I could enjoy the stories more. I found the story to be believable since most kids want to leave their lives and find a new world. There are not new worlds to find except for in your mind as you read books but that doesn’t stop kids from imagining them. The language used in the story was believable, nothing was magical but the whole idea of someone calling to be saved is something that I followed quite well.
David was my favorite because I could really relate to him. People don’t like disruptions in life but some we can’t control and so we need to learn to adjust. David found it very difficult to adjust to the new changes in his life and so found his own way of escape. The idea of half wolf/half human creature seemed like it could be a possibility since we are trying to do so many different kinds of thing in the scientific world. Having said that, I am not saying it will happen but there are other animals that have been able to breed like a donkey and a horse. The other character that stuck out to me was the king of the fantasy world. Once his true identity is revealed, he really looks like the evil man we read about in the beginning of the book. But I don’t want to spoil it for some one else.
I really enjoyed this book for the fantasy realm that was introduced. The ending pleased me and I hope to read more by John Connolly. The other thing that made me enjoy the book was that on the back cover was a list of people who had reviewed it and one of them was Harlan Coben. He is one of my all time favorite authors and so for him to like it meant a lot. At the same time, I didn’t care for another book that he said was good so I was a little skeptical. After reading, I agreed with his comments, which were “Darkly brilliant, spellbinding and disturbing.” It was all of those three and gory as well. I would give this book a 4/5. It was a very good book but not sure there are many people who would want to read it.
Now onto H.R.H. by Danielle Steel. I liked the last one I read by her called The House so we'll see how it goes. :)
