So about a year ago I reviewed Lisa Yee's Newbery Honor book Maizy Chen's Last Chance, and mentioned that I was really looking forward to this new series, The Misfits. I finally got my paws on a copy of the first of two books so far in the Misfits series, and was excited to have it be part of my holiday break reading binge! Add Dan Santat, Caldecott winning illustrator, and this should be a win-win book, right? Right?
Ugh. It is not a win-win book. It's not even a 'win' book. I will admit something I hate to admit, but it is very rare that I do not finish a book, but I did not finish this one. I often say life is too short to read a bad book (and in dog year's that is really saying something), but I hardly ever come across a book so bad I don't want to finish it. Yee is such a good writer, and with Santat's wonderful illustrations, I don't know how this fell off so badly...but it did.
Let's be fair - this is not the worst book I have ever tried to read. The plot is a group of misfit kids who end up at a special school for kids who are not succeeding in "regular" school. In this school a few students are identified as super smart and talented, and then recruited to be teen super agent spies and crime solvers. What an opportunity to create some genuinely quirky characters and situations, right? I think that is what Yee was aiming for...but the characters are not that memorable or cool, and the school and group they end up in is not easy to follow, all that interesting or believable.
Before I decided to stop reading, I checked some respected sites for other reviews of this book, and found that there were a lot of other readers that think the same thing. So it wasn't just me having a bad book day. This book made me want to go back to some truly memorable books with similar characters and plots; Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer or the Alex Rider series by Alex Horowitz. As for Misfits, book 1, don't do it. Or if you do decide to try this book, and you find it to be the bee's knees (meaning you really enjoy it!), please post a comment in this blog and let me know...I'd love to be wrong about this book and maybe have a reason to try it again someday. Until then, 2 paws and a hint of a wag.
No comments:
Post a Comment