The title is kind of a lie. I actually listened to this on audiobook and didn’t read it. But I did enjoy it. I haven’t read the books, so I can’t compare the reading experience to the listening one, but I really enjoyed the audio book of this children’s fantasy adventure.
Spirit Animals: Wild Born by Brandon Mull follows four eleven-year old kids who call The Fallen as their spirit animals. There is quite a bit of set-up in this book, but there are seven books in the series, so I appreciate all the time taken to give the story a good base. Even with the set-up, there was a good amount of action. The story had me longing for a spirit animal of my own, and I keep hoping one will just appear any day now.
Spirit Animals Wild Born is definitely children’s fiction, not young adult, but I think for any fan of the fantasy genre, the Spirit Animals world would be an enjoyable one, especially if you have a secret longing to be a veterinarian, like I do. This is the kind of book that I would like to read to my children one day—maybe once they are old enough to sit through more than on sentence from a board book. This is the kind of fiction that is uplifting, and good to read on a stressful day.
As for the audiobook, it was read by Nicola Barber and I thought she did a wonderful job with all of the varying voices and accents and characterization. Though I think she actually did a better job of the male voices than the female voices, which I find to be a problem with a lot of audiobooks. Or maybe it’s just me.
Have you read or listened to this book? What did you think?
4/5 Stars
JEH
(associate link) wasn’t completely what I expected. It follows Lady Elizabeth, a rather rich and spoiled young woman who doesn’t want to marry the one man who can save her family, instead, she runs off to join The Glittering Court, in the hopes of finding another suitor. This book was half romance, and half alternate reality or half western, I couldn’t quite decide. The land of Osfrid is loosely based on colonial Europe, and the land of Denham is loosely based on colonial America. I got into this book around the time it turned into a western, but I’m still not sure it works.
(associate link), is on Earth and dying, by the narration is anything but dead. Aza has such a smart, lively and unique voice, that I couldn’t help but fall in love with her. What interested me the most was that the story is based on a little known piece of folklore (at least to me). I love myths and folk tales, and generally love books that elaborate upon them.
I borrowed this book from a friend, who bought it based on Amazon’s #1 rating. My friend wasn’t impressed with the book, and maybe her telling me that biased my own opinion a little bit. I didn’t find Clary to be a deep character. She doesn’t seem to have any interests beyond Simon. Though she occasionally draws, her art doesn’t come across as being important to her. Clary has no girl friends, which would have added to the depth of the story. Some parts of the novel were pretty transparent, and others seemed far-fetched (if you’ve read it you probably know what I’m talking about).
2. Reader Themed Mug
4. Reading Journal
5. Book Themed Adult Colouring Books
6. Book-Turned-Movie Movie Soundtracks
And of course, what would be a list of gifts to give a book lover without mentioning books? But it can be difficult to buy a reader a book. It’s always a worry that they will have already bought the book you picked out, or that it just isn’t their style, so when all else fails, go with a gift card, this way the reader can choose just what kind of happy ending they want to read about.
J. E. H U N T E R 