Wildwood (2011)

2.5 stars

'We are the inheritors of a wonderful world, a beautiful world, full of life and mystery, goodness and pain. But likewise are we the children of an indifferent universe. We break our own hearts imposing our moral order on what is, by nature, a wide web of chaos.'

Sometimes I wish I didn't give out star-ratings and only wrote reviews, I think sometimes that would be easier than feeling it necessary to justify a low rating despite the fact that I DID like it. But there were some big problems I had overall.

Wildwood is almost a Chronicles of Narnia and Labyrinth mix (minus the fact that Prue didn't wish her brother away). Full of crazy talking animals and a mysterious world known as Wildwood, or as the locals call it, I.W.: Impassable Wilderness.

You see, on every map of Portland, Oregon, there is a big splotch of green on the edge of the city labeled I.W. This stands for Impassable Wilderness. No one’s ever gone in—or at least returned to tell of it.'

The writing flowed, the storyline was entertaining, the small artistic bits strewn throughout were perfection, but...

This thing was far too damn long. I may not be a patient reader but still, I know when a book is unnecessarily long. Truly, are there any actual middle-graders out there that read this in its entirety? I would really like to know. For the target audience, middle-graders, I think this would end up being far too much to handle. Extremely political and quite wordy at times (plus, we can't forget the length...541 pages was not necessary).

Despite this it was a lovely story and I will continue reading the trilogy (even though that's just as damn long). So readers beware: an extremely enjoyable story, just requires some much needed patience to get through.



( )

A charming tale of two children's adventures in the Impassable Wilderness that lies across the river from their otherwise recognisably modern home. When Prue's baby brother is kidnapped by crows, she journeys into the Wilderness to get him back, followed by her classmate Curtis. The two are separated almost immediately, treating us to two separate explorations of different parts of the Wildwood (as its residents call it) and providing a slow reveal of the bloody politics and black magic that are rapidly tearing apart the apparently serene / idyllic society.

Impossible to avoid comparisons with Narnia - high jinks with talking animals (there is a moment early on where Curtis was clearly paying the price for not having read The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe), although there are darker moments as personal costs and moral dilemma come to the fore, and the emphasis is on personal responsibility rather than religion.

A well-paced (if rather long) read, and beautifully illustrated in both monochrome and colour (although I was annoyed to find the colour plates in my edition are not placed relative to the part of the story they show - so almost every one is a plot spoiler!). I won't hasten to read the sequel, but I'd happily recommend it for children - they may struggle to finish it unless they are avid readers, but the writing is great and would benefit from being read aloud. ( )

Actually a 2.5 if half-stars existed. Rounding up to a three because the book got off to SUCH a strong start, and Meloy's eloquent language has to count for something. The book reminded me of a velvet dress that could have been gorgeous if it had been more simply cut, but that kept getting added to and added to beyond the point of beauty, and then got caught in a downpour and became watterlogged. It just kept going on and on and ON. This Decemberist-turned-author has obvious talent, but hopefully his editor will discourage him from going off on quite so many tangents in future books. ( )

Much more substantive than The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland.... I was surprised to read that people---human and animal---died in battles, but this is a serious book, albeit a most enjoyable read. It is not light reading; the book is, in fact, bulky and it might be nice if the three parts could be physically split with the entire work in a slipcase!

Two children, Prue and Curtis, each about twelve-years-old, try to rescue Prue's year-old brother, who has been carried off by crows, and do much better than the adults around them. I was especially disappointed in the behavior of Prue's parents. This is yet another young adult book in which the children do better than the adults.

The writing is intelligent and even the descriptive bits (usually my least favorite part of stories) are interesting. The children are smart and knowledgeable. Curtis, for example, likes Kurasawa. There are different government structures and social organizations---this is a detailed world. Except for a baby being carried off by crows, the book starts out very realistically. Not all questions are answered by the end of the book, but the primary story is resolved.

A favorite quote:
"My dear Prue, we are the inheritors of a wonderful world, a beautiful world, full of life and mystery, goodness and pain. But likewise are we children of an indifferent universe. We break our own hearts imposing our moral order on what is, by nature, a wide web of chaos. it is a hopeless task." [p. 380] ( )

great adventure in this fantastical new fantasy ( )