Review: Whimsical, playfully written, pure silliness
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 09 3, 2013
SEEKING PHILBERT WOODBEAD... if you like a lot of action this book is not for you even though it does have that element with the pirates chasing Lord Elmer. Anya is a talented writer and capable of writing very funny situations as she showed in the book PENELOPE. Her focus is on the small dramas that occur in the interaction between people and what this reader prefers. In SEEKING PHILBERT WOODBEAD however, she is trying too hard to get a laugh. At least that is how it seems to this reader. It begins in a whimsical playful way but then disintegrates into so much silliness that it is utterly absurd. Madcap it is. Some of it is tolerable and even fun, but then becomes dark with the degrading behavior of Penelope. Pregnancy is no excuse to go from being a beautiful person to an absolute tyrant insensitive to everyone but herself. Fortunately that is only in a small portion of the book. PENELOPE was lighthearted and fun to read, this became a chore having laughed only once or twice in the whole book and trying to be patient with the stupid behavior of the main characters. For me, behaving in a stupid way is not always funny. I like characters to be intelligent, caring people who may get into funny situations or who do funny things. If you like silly, absurd situations and people behaving stupidly, all presented in a lighthearted way, you will like this book.