| I will be honest: I didn't like this book. However, I think it's important not only rave about books that I liked to read, but also to be honest about books that didn't appeal to me. Apart from providing a more balanced insight into my reading habits and preferences, thinking about WHY I didn't like a book and attempting to put that into words also helps me to be a more critical reader. |
Let's start with a short (and spoiler-free, don't worry!) synopsis of the book. The story is about Prue, a 12-year-old girl from Portland, Oregon. When she is charged with looking after her baby brother, Mac, he is kidnapped by a 'murder of crows' and taken into the Impassable Wilderness, a forest just at the edge of town. Prue and her friend Curtis travel into the Impassable Wilderness to rescue Mac, and quickly discover that it's much more than just a forest: it actually consists of several countries in which humans and talking animals live together. There is South Wood, which is basically a big village with a post office and some government buildings; there is North Wood, which is the spiritual centre of the wooddwelling community; there is the Avian Principality, which is the independent kingdom of the birds; and finally, there is Wildwood, the "uncivilized country". Prue and Curtis get separated almost immediately upon their arrival in the forest. They end up on opposing sides of the war which is about to commence, although they aren't aware of this themselves.
The book itself is a middle-grade fantasy and it's pretty big: my edition has 541 pages. The beautiful illustrations are done by Carson Ellis, who is Meloy's wife. My only criticism on that front is that I would have loved more illustrations - their style and colour scheme are just amazing.
But let's get to the point. I didn't like this book. One of the contributing factors that I mentioned in an earlier video is the language: the pretentiousness of it bothered me. I want to be very clear, I have nothing against using regular adult language in middle-grade books. However, the language in Wildwood is not what I would call regular at all. It gives off the impression that Meloy wrote this book while flipping through a thesaurus. Additionally, some words and phrases are consistently used in a way that is simply not correct.
Some other things that bothered me throughout the book are
Finally, there is the case of Prue's parents, who are completely unconvincing as characters. I realize this is a tricky issue, because the book is filled with things that could never happen in real life. So if I have no trouble accepting talking animals, than why can't I do the same for Prue's parents? I thought about this long and hard, and finally came up with an answer: accepting talking animals as part of the story has to do with suspension of disbelief. The unbelievability of Prue's parents, however, is just bad character building.
This may seem weirdly unrelated, but: on a behind-the-scenes video of The Walking Dead, one of the executive producers said that if you're dealing with something that is so obviously not real (zombies in their case, the Impassable Wilderness in Wildwood's), you have to make sure that all other elements of the story are completely believable in order to convince the audience. I'm afraid that Colin Meloy never saw this particular footage.
All that being said, though, I'm afraid that I am misrepresenting this book, and I want to clear that up before end this review. Even though I didn't like Wildwood, I recognize that it's not a terrible book. The problem is that it's almost good, which makes it all the more painful, because you can see the potential and do nothing to bring it out.
After I initially mentioned that I didn't like this book, a couple of people told me that it was on their TBR but that they were now reconsidering reading it. All I can say about that is, it's up to you! My opinion is in no way representative for all readers and so it might surprise you. On the other hand, if your pet peeves overlap with mine, you may want to skip this one.
Watch this review as a video.
Wildwood on...
Colin Meloy on...
The book itself is a middle-grade fantasy and it's pretty big: my edition has 541 pages. The beautiful illustrations are done by Carson Ellis, who is Meloy's wife. My only criticism on that front is that I would have loved more illustrations - their style and colour scheme are just amazing.
But let's get to the point. I didn't like this book. One of the contributing factors that I mentioned in an earlier video is the language: the pretentiousness of it bothered me. I want to be very clear, I have nothing against using regular adult language in middle-grade books. However, the language in Wildwood is not what I would call regular at all. It gives off the impression that Meloy wrote this book while flipping through a thesaurus. Additionally, some words and phrases are consistently used in a way that is simply not correct.
Some other things that bothered me throughout the book are
- the sheer hipster-ness of Prue and her family. I realize that she lives in Portland and that is what they pride themselves on. But not everyone who is going to read this book will be from Portland, so I don't know if that was a clever thing to do from the author's point of view.
- the stereotypes with which the book is filled. The tough girl who is 'not like the others', the wise owl, the bad crows. I found a Goodreads review which touches on this exact point, and explains it much better than I ever could. Basically, it's just annoying that such a lack of creativity is still acceptable.
- the lack of dimension that most characters display. They are dull and hard to relate to. I realize that I, as an adult reader, am not the intended audience of this book (or am I? I have a hard time picturing a 10-year-old powering through this book), but that is not an excuse for poor character building.
Finally, there is the case of Prue's parents, who are completely unconvincing as characters. I realize this is a tricky issue, because the book is filled with things that could never happen in real life. So if I have no trouble accepting talking animals, than why can't I do the same for Prue's parents? I thought about this long and hard, and finally came up with an answer: accepting talking animals as part of the story has to do with suspension of disbelief. The unbelievability of Prue's parents, however, is just bad character building.
This may seem weirdly unrelated, but: on a behind-the-scenes video of The Walking Dead, one of the executive producers said that if you're dealing with something that is so obviously not real (zombies in their case, the Impassable Wilderness in Wildwood's), you have to make sure that all other elements of the story are completely believable in order to convince the audience. I'm afraid that Colin Meloy never saw this particular footage.
All that being said, though, I'm afraid that I am misrepresenting this book, and I want to clear that up before end this review. Even though I didn't like Wildwood, I recognize that it's not a terrible book. The problem is that it's almost good, which makes it all the more painful, because you can see the potential and do nothing to bring it out.
After I initially mentioned that I didn't like this book, a couple of people told me that it was on their TBR but that they were now reconsidering reading it. All I can say about that is, it's up to you! My opinion is in no way representative for all readers and so it might surprise you. On the other hand, if your pet peeves overlap with mine, you may want to skip this one.
Watch this review as a video.
Wildwood on...
Colin Meloy on...