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Community comment are the opinions of contributing users. These comment do not represent the opinions of Pima County Public Library.
QueenBoadicea
Jul 31, 2015QueenBoadicea rated this title 0.5 out of 5 stars
This book falls flat in a few ways. The character of Farkas (an unfortunate name that just begs to be rendered into an obscenity) is your garden variety bully, a thug with a couple of minions who conveniently disappear partway through the story. Also, the storybook characters brought from within the pages of books are so cardboard; their dialogue makes you cringe. The mysterious Dr. Libris at first comes off as someone you’d want to know—until he turns into a grubby, avaricious little man with no interest beyond accruing cash. The boy child suddenly developing magical powers has been done to death and with less predictability than is shown here. He wants to get his parents back together but you get the feeling his intentions are solely to make sure the family stays in clover and he gets to keep his iPhone. His manipulation of them is shockingly awful; his parents also seem to be so negligent it’s a mystery why he’d want them back together, anyway. The adventures are wacky but without a real feeling of danger to them; one dilemma is so abruptly dealt with you wonder why it was brought up in the first place. This is a tepid story, obviously designed to promote a “Reading is fun” message but without a real sense of tension, character development or plot points. Since it’s a mere jumble of other, better books, the reader should skip it and stick to the classics listed in the back.