Review: A Funny and Sublimely Written Gothic Fantasy for Middle Graders
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 10 19, 2012
Think of deadpan funny Christina Ricci in the Addams Family movies. Add a vaguely unhinged and oblivious Morticia Addams mother. Put them in a gothic house with a backyard that borders a creepy haunted Woods. Put it all on the edge of a classic weird village. Add a whole bunch of engaging supporting characters. Now, make everyone mellow, funny, observant and wildly idiosyncratic. At this point I don't really care about the plot or the resolution of the creepy goings on. I'm just happy to be along for the ride.It's easy to be heavy; it's hard to be light. But this book pulls it off by making the heroine a no-nonsense, can do type, with good instincts, a sharp mind, a droll world view and a penchant for wry observations.If there is any complaint to be made, it revolves around the overly cutesy author/narrator, who just can't leave well enough alone and has to interject, in Lemony Snicket style, with comments on the action and with rather patronizing definitions of words. This clashes with the style and mood of the story, but does fade away during the course of the book, and can be overlooked.So, with so many fantasy/adventure books out that that tread along the same old same old paths, this is a refreshing and rewarding and very satisfying entertainment.