2.5⭐️
Had high hopes of this giving me the same kind of buzz I experienced when reading Jasper Fforde’s brilliantly bonkers and wryly humorous Thursday Next series. Sadly, despite the appealing (if not entirely original) premise of literary characters being read out into life by one, perhaps more, mysteriously gifted individuals - consequently threatening the existence of the real world - this fell short for me.

Pros: fascinating alternative world, filled out pretty well; some exciting story peaks; fun is had with a number of fictional characters, mostly Dickensian or Victorian, many of whom readers would kill to meet.

Cons: unlikeable narrator (his bitter, repetitive and petty carping about his brother rapidly grew very tedious); a few potentially excellent side characters were criminally underused (especially Sherlock Holmes and the mother of the two main characters); there were a number of distracting typos; and the whole thing would have benefited from a good, hard trimming. Often unnecessarily wordy, with strangely flat, even cringe-inducing phrasing; and too often the dialogue just went on and on, round and round in circles, or didn’t ring true.

All in all, I found myself frequently irritated while reading but pressed on because I was interested enough to see what happened in the end. Mostly though, it’s just made me want to read Fforde all over again. ( )

If you've already read the description, you’ll know that the main character has the ability to bring book characters to life. This book is a non-stop adventure populated by fictional superstars from Victorian literature, who wreak havoc on the lives of Charley and his brother.

The book has it all: fantasy, mystery, family dynamics, sibling rivalry, personal growth, magic, literary analysis, and Five Mr. Darcys! (Don’t worry, they’re not central to the plot.) That’s not to say the plot is convoluted. I found it straightforward, and easy to follow.

While the storyline involving the brothers didn’t resonate with me, and at times felt distracting, the rest of the tale, and getting to the bottom of the mystery, had me completely hooked. If you’re a fan of literature and fantasy, this book is for you.

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A decent take on the "book characters come to life" genre, which I mostly enjoyed. Slogged in a few places and some of the characters were a bit one-note, but it kept me fairly well entertained. ( )

I stuck with this one well beyond what I would normally, given the problems, because the idea is so much fun. Sadly, a fun idea is all this delivers on. The writing style is extremely clunky with really awkward dialogue, and the main characters were not believable as adults. I'd say they read like teenagers but that feels really uncharitable to teenagers. Give this one a pass. ( )

This was a very enjoyable fantasy/odyssey that touches on everything near and dear to book nerds--other reviews here on Library Thing have touched on major points, so I won't do so, but having just finished it, my "now I have to go back and read....." list has doubled. The jacket blurbs point out that the story is a nice fit for Neil Gaiman and Jasper Fforde fans, and I agree heartily.

With that said, it was a little lengthy. Heresy, since elementary-school me picked my library books based on thickness/number of pages. However, as a reluctantly harried and overscheduled grownup, I think a little judicious editing could have improved the pace of this adventure in the literary otherworld. Don't let that comment deter you if you've got the time to invest in a wonderfully novel novel. ( )