In Blossom by Cheon Yooju
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
This feels like a children's book written and illustrated by a minimalist. And so (as the exact opposite, a collector) I read it three times and still don't really 'get it'.
The pictures are subdued and lack colour (even though the setting is spring). So it lacks stimulus for younger children to be engaged. The words are nice and simple so it could possibly be used as an introductory reader story but it's very short so a child could easily memorize the book before they knew how to actually 'read' it. My five year old niece is doing this right now. She will 'read' me a book but only one of the five she has memorized. While a great showing of her talent in memorization, we keep having to remind her that it's not the same as reading.
I am assuming the use of a cat and dog is as our primary characters is to show that people/animals can be friends with the most unlikely partner. In this case, a cat and a dog that are usually at odds with one another become 'unlikely' friends by the end. And that the use of sushi is an attempt to add a multicultural aspect to the story. Unfortunately for me even after reading it three times, I can honestly say that I was bored, never mind how the average child is likely to feel.
Now, that said, maybe a child that feels overwhelmed a lot would love the simplicity of this story. There may be an audience for it; I just don't think it's for the broad audience of most children.
The other thing that struck me is how odd it is to offer food that has had fluff (pollen) land on it to someone. Perhaps I have a bit of a germ phobia but it just felt weird to offer someone food that has had things landed on it flying around in the air. I get that the fluff is being used as the 'connection' between the dog and cat to actual chat with one another; but I just can't get over how odd it is to me.
Overall, this isn't a bad story. The morale is good and the overall sense of the story is fine. I just can't imagine reading or gifting it to any of the small children in my life.
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A quick post today to tease that I just received a super cute book courtesy Dover Publications that I will be reviewing and stitching an item from. Once I’ve done that it will go into the hands of one of my lovely followers in a worldwide giveaway!!
Here’s a quick photo of the back cover with a couple examples of the types of cute, small projects enclosed within.
There's lots of new stuff coming to the blog as well. Including Alice page finish photos, band sampler progress, more gargoyles and a couple new projects!
Be back very soon!
Providence by Caroline Kepnes
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
DNF at 50%
There is a first time for everything, right? I am giving a book a did not finish two stars (instead of 1).
While Providence is not for me, I believe that any moderate to large H.P. Lovecraft fans will likely love it. Additionally there may be some literary fans that will also enjoy Providence. For me it was really simple; I just didn't care about any of our characters. The first 1/3 of the book was great! I loved the teenagers perspective with Chloe and Jon. And I was stoked when a huge bombshell event happens... yet I was severely disappointed that the next page after said bombshell the book jumps forward 6 years!! It felt too abrupt and took away from my interest and the pacing that had been established.
Additionally I do not like the detective character who is introduced in the 6 years section. He is dull, obsessive in a creepy way and frankly a pretty crappy husband. I do not really enjoy reading contemporary settings where the husbands treat their wives like background noise or with a nonchalant attitude. This may be a reflection of my own fear that my (now 10 year) marriage is at risk of this (as are almost all marriages after a certain period of time); but for whatever reason I am just not interested in these stories.
Overall I think there is probably some genius buried here in the Lovecraft references and story arc of the characters. I am happy that this book had me read my first Lovecraft short story "The Dunwick Horror" which is reference a multitude of times in the first half of the book. So I suppose 2 stars for sending me to classic literature (which I did enjoy) and because I do believe there is an audience for this book, it's just not me.
Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.
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