Beth C.
Written on Jan 4, 2018
DESTINED TO BE A CLASSIC: Like a blend of Neil Gaiman's Coraline, Cornelia Funke's Inkheart, William Golding's The Princess Bride, and Robert Beatty's Serafina and the Black Cloak, The Beginning Woods stands out as an utterly original and engrossing fantasy.
GARNERING IMMENSE PRAISE: Blurb from international bestselling author of Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer, and called a Bookseller "One to Watch."
HITS ALL THE MIDDLE GRADE SWEET SPOTS: Exploring themes of family, identity, and the meaning of home, readers will fall madly in love with Max.
A NEW FAIRY TALE: This reads like a new fairy tale weaving together traits... Read more
- ISBN10 1510722904
- ISBN13 9781510722903
- Publish Date 19 October 2017 (first published 1 September 2016)
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country US
- Publisher Skyhorse Publishing
- Imprint Sky Pony Press
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 432
- Language English
Reviews
Eve1972
Written on Jul 6, 2016
3.5 Stars
I've been picking up this book and putting it down for a few days now. The writing is fabulous. It has a fairytale quality to it as you...Read more
ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
3.5 Stars
I've been picking up this book and putting it down for a few days now. The writing is fabulous. It has a fairytale quality to it as you can see in my quote below....
“We found out about snowflakes today,” he’d told them. “How they’re shaped like a star, with all these patterns and diamonds. Mr Chandra told us that’s how water crystals form when they freeze.” “That’s right,” said Forbes. “And did you learn how they all have eight arms? Like an octopus?” “Six,” said Alice, giving him an elbow. “It’s six, isn’t it Max?” “Yes,” said Max. “But Mr Chandra is wrong.
It doesn’t have anything to do with how water freezes. It’s the Starmakers. “Oh-ho!” said Forbes, wriggling with pleasure. “Who are the Starmakers?” “Don’t you know?” Max had been surprised at this, because Mr Chandra hadn’t known either. “If you look even closer at a snowflake, if you look much more closer than ever, you see tiny chisel marks on the snowflake. Tiny chisel marks made by tiny silver chisels.” “Is that so?” Forbes said, winking at Alice.“The chisels belong to the Starmakers,” Max explained “Snowflakes are stars that weren’t good enough. Each Starmaker makes thousands of stars a year, and they throw most of them away because of little mistakes.
But now and again, once every million years, one of the Starmakers looks up from his anvil. And all the other Starmakers look up as well and put down their chisels, because they know what’s happened—finally there’s a star perfect enough to go in the sky."
Certain parts would suck me completely in, while others seem to drag on a bit. Hence the picking up and putting down over the course of several days. I enjoyed the characters though. The World building was interesting. A bit of an old World feel, but with modern touches. Actually, it had a bit of an Alice In Wonderland feel to it.
Overall I enjoyed it.
3.5 Stars
I've been picking up this book and putting it down for a few days now. The writing is fabulous. It has a fairytale quality to it as you can see in my quote below....
“We found out about snowflakes today,” he’d told them. “How they’re shaped like a star, with all these patterns and diamonds. Mr Chandra told us that’s how water crystals form when they freeze.” “That’s right,” said Forbes. “And did you learn how they all have eight arms? Like an octopus?” “Six,” said Alice, giving him an elbow. “It’s six, isn’t it Max?” “Yes,” said Max. “But Mr Chandra is wrong.
It doesn’t have anything to do with how water freezes. It’s the Starmakers. “Oh-ho!” said Forbes, wriggling with pleasure. “Who are the Starmakers?” “Don’t you know?” Max had been surprised at this, because Mr Chandra hadn’t known either. “If you look even closer at a snowflake, if you look much more closer than ever, you see tiny chisel marks on the snowflake. Tiny chisel marks made by tiny silver chisels.” “Is that so?” Forbes said, winking at Alice.“The chisels belong to the Starmakers,” Max explained “Snowflakes are stars that weren’t good enough. Each Starmaker makes thousands of stars a year, and they throw most of them away because of little mistakes.
But now and again, once every million years, one of the Starmakers looks up from his anvil. And all the other Starmakers look up as well and put down their chisels, because they know what’s happened—finally there’s a star perfect enough to go in the sky."
Certain parts would suck me completely in, while others seem to drag on a bit. Hence the picking up and putting down over the course of several days. I enjoyed the characters though. The World building was interesting. A bit of an old World feel, but with modern touches. Actually, it had a bit of an Alice In Wonderland feel to it.
Overall I enjoyed it.