Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy by Karen Foxlee

February 2, 2014     erinbook     Book review

 

Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy by Karen Foxlee


Release Date: January 28, 2014
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
240 Pages
Received: ARC from Publisher
Format: Paperback ARC


Rating:

3.5 Stars
 
 
 
 
 
 
Description: Unlikely heroine Ophelia Jane Worthington-Whittard doesn’t believe in anything that can’t be proven by science. She and her sister Alice are still grieving for their dead mother when their father takes a job in a strange museum in a city where it always snows. On her very first day in the museum Ophelia discovers a boy locked away in a long forgotten room. He is a prisoner of Her Majesty the Snow Queen. And he has been waiting for Ophelia’s help.

As Ophelia embarks on an incredible journey to rescue the boy everything that she believes will be tested. Along the way she learns more and more about the boy’s own remarkable journey to reach her and save the world.

A story within a story, this a modern day fairytale is about the power of friendship, courage and love, and never ever giving up.

Review: Can I just say that I love the Snow Queen? I’m so excited that authors are starting to do more retellings of the Snow Queen fairy-tale. This is a very good retelling of the story for Middle Grade readers. As a kid I would have loved this book instantly. As an adult I can see that it does have a few flaws but they would not necessarily be apparent to kids.

I do have to say that several parts of this book are extremely predictable. You can tell some of the things that are going to happen 100 pages before they do. Part of that just comes from being older than the target audience, I think. Still, I was a pretty smart kid and I probably still would have been yelling “She’s after your sister! She’s climbin’ in your windows, she snatchin’ your people up!” at the book like I did now as an adult. That is, if that reference had existed when I was a kid, which it didn’t.

I really enjoyed the story within the story, the Marvelous Boy’s backstory. I was so eager the whole time to find out what his name was. It was a really good way to keep me engaged in the story and guessing along with Ophelia. Ophelia is a well crafted female lead, while her sister is the typical annoying sister character. Ophelia is smart and resourceful, creative and acts like a normal kid her age would. Also I really enjoyed the evil Snow Queen, she’s really well done and don’t go in expecting Elsa from Frozen, guys! She’s a baddie!

This was a pretty fast read, I finished it in a couple hours of straight reading. The artwork inside and out is absolutely gorgeous and it really accentuates the story. The book has a bit of a Coraline vibe is places, in a good way. I’m so glad I was given the chance to read this book, thank you so much to the publisher for sending it to me!

Have you guys read Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy yet? What did you think? Tell me in the comments!

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The Book Nut

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