Mostly, I thought it was too long, but I also thought it was too twee and derivative. I listened to the audiobook narrated by Amanda Plummer and I thought she was purposely trying to put the emphasis in weird places in sentences, which just compounded my annoyance with the book overall.

Wildwood gets two stars instead of just one because it's serviceable. If a kid really wanted a long fantasy similar to C.S. Lewis, I wouldn't tell him NOT to read this. ( )

A young girl is out for a stroll with her baby b rother when she witnesses him ‘napped by a murder of crows and carried away into the Wildwood – an impassible and possibly magical forest adjacent to her hometown of Portland. So, she decides to pass into the impassible wilderness to rescue him, and is unwillingly accompanied by a boy her age who wants to be her friend. They quickly get separated once in the Wildwood and each have their own adventures while hunting for the tot.

I think if I could have read this as a kid I would have adored it, as I was obsessed with All Things Narnia, and this book is clearly *heavily* influenced by Lewis’ Chronicles. But as an adult, it’s hard not to be distracted by just how much Meloy has borrowed from Lewis. But, if you know any middle graders who are bananas for Narnia, I’d definitely recommend recommending this one to them. ( )

I chose this book because it is a fantasy that takes place in my local area. I hadn’t yet picked it up because the cover was not something that appealed to me, and friends who had read it hadn’t been impressed with the story. I chose to listen to it on CD rather than read it, and that turned out to be a good choice, because Amanda Plummer’s reading is perhaps the only thing that kept me listening.

The story is fine as fantasy adventures go. The language is well beyond anything that will interest a middle grade child for long. I found the text to be wordy and far too descriptive. I kept wanting to shout, “Get on with the story already!” My mind drifted away throughout, despite the excellent reading, which forced me to rewind to where I last remembered listening.

I’m giving it three stars because the story did hold together, and I think with better editing, it could have been an interesting book. Also, as I said, Amanda Plummer saved the book by providing interesting voices for the characters.

There were a few bright moments. I enjoyed the mail carrier who drives his truck back and forth between Northwood and Southwood. I liked Brennan the Bandit King. And Curtis was a strong character – more so than Prue who had marched into Wildwood to save her brother, but often seemed to forget her mission.

Because I listened on CD, I did not see the illustrations, but because the cover completely turned me off, I wasn’t really interested in seeing more. I’ve spoken to people who loved them, however, so for some people they were the perfect match for the text.
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I wanted to like it, but I just couldn't get into it. ( )

To see my full non-spoiler review: https://christianlovingbooks.blogspot.com/2018/07/wildwood-review.html ( )