Sunday, July 4, 2010

What the Dickens - What the...?




Title/Author: What the Dickens: The Story of a Rogue Toothfairy by Gregory Maguire

Genre: YA/Fantasy

Publisher: Candlewick, September 2007.

Source: Purchased

Favorite character: None

Favorite quote:  There were lots of pretty quotes despite my review.

Product Description from Amazon:
A terrible storm is raging, and ten-year-old Dinah is huddled by candlelight with her brother, sister, and cousin Gage, who is telling a very unusual tale. It’s the story of What-the-Dickens, a newly hatched orphan creature who finds he has an attraction to teeth, a crush on a cat named McCavity, and a penchant for getting into trouble. One day he happens upon a feisty girl skibberee who is working as an Agent of Change — trading coins for teeth — and learns that there is a dutiful tribe of skibbereen (call them tooth fairies) to which he hopes to belong. As his tale of discovery unfolds, however, both What-the- Dickens and Dinah come to see that the world is both richer and less sure than they ever imagined.

Opinion: Unfortunately, this was a book that I just couldn’t finish. I had high expectations because of the blurbs on the front and the cover looked promising, plus, I really liked Wicked and Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister and would definitely recommend them. But, I got halfway through What the Dickens and realized that there were just so many other books that I would rather be reading and I didn’t look forward to reading it. Books should be enjoyed! The writing was very lovely, the story was cute but it seemed to stagnate and I just couldn’t get into it. None of the characters grabbed me. I actually jumped to the end and read the last few pages, something I NEVER do, even when I don’t finish a book – which BTW is very rare. Even reading the ending, I didn’t feel I missed out on anything.

Sorry Mr. Maguire! But hey you’re a hugely successful author and one of your books was even made into a Broadway show (which I also liked a lot), so, you certainly don’t need one little reader’s approval for this book.

2 comments:

Christine said...

I´m so sorry you didn´t enjoy this book! I really hope for you that you have more luck with Wicked Game! I have that one on my TBR pile as well!

xoxo

Midnyte Reader said...

Actually, I read Wicked Game a few years ago and loved it. I wanted to re-read it b/c I loved the characters/story and I wanted to reacquaint myself before I read the sequels. I have a feeling you will like it too!

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