Cover Image: Thieves of Weirdwood

Thieves of Weirdwood

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Member Reviews

This one is an eerie tale involving twin brothers, a mystical land where everything is in reverse from reality, and a creepy doll whose touch turns people to porcelain. The Victorian gothic tone is strong and this book will appeal to fans of the genre. I could not get into this one, though, and ended up not finishing it. The pace picks up a lot once Arthur and Wally find themselves "through the mirror," but that doesn't happen until about 1/3 through the book. While the story and premise are interesting, something about the book didn't ring true to me as being middle grade: maybe it was the narrative tone, maybe it was the inclusion of bartenders, maybe too much of the story was told too much from an adult's point of view. Not for me, but will appeal to tween readers who like their fantasy with just a dash of horror. 8 to 12.

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I really like the cover of this book, and I was excited to read this when I saw the other books it was compared to. That being said, it fell a bit flat to me. I really enjoyed the style of writing, and it was fun to read in that sense. I also liked the general premise of the book and the idea of real and imaginary worlds. It's certainly creative, but I didn't feel engaged in the book because even half way through I couldn't clearly grasp what the point of the story was. I know the protagonist needs money for his brother, but beyond that I felt like the story was creative ramblings without a clear direction. I think the fact that it was compared to Rick Riordan's and Brandon Mull's books made me more disappointed than I would have been otherwise because I love both of those authors' works, and this honestly wasn't in the same ballpark for me. It wasn't a difficult read because the writing, but rather because I felt like I was slugging through the content because I wasn't invested in the where the book was headed. The introductory period seemed to be almost the entire book for me, so there was never a point that I felt like I was on the adventure. This was honestly difficult for me to finish.

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This book had a very slow and was quite confusing start to it. WeirdWood did finally did start to pick up around chapters 6-8. If you can make it through the long and very back and forth beginning. I think you will really enjoy the book. I am glad I kept going and finished because once everything became, clear in the middle of the book it was good. I just like to know what all is going on towards the beginning with key elements of the books I read. This was nothing like anything I had read before.

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Arthur & Wally are stealing their way into the Black Feathers gang. Both boys have personally reasons to earn some fast cash. When Arthur stumbles across some wealthy people little does he know he actually came across was magic and different worlds. Now the boys must save their city. This was an action adventure book. There are some intense parts. Over all a fun adventure middle grade read.
I received this free eARC from Netgalley but all opinions are my own. Thank you Netgalley and Henry Holt and Co.

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This is a fun and scary action filled adventure book about two boys named Arthur and Willy who are thieves. They live in a world that is part Victorian slum and part twisted terrifyingly magic world. They each have family members who are confined to a completely horrifying hospital and they are trying to get them out. Willy and Arthur go on a mission to Weirdwood manor (an old scary house) to try to steal a fortune and get caught up in something a LOT bigger. This one is scary enough to make it better for middle school kids, but it's a very compelling story.

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Overall, I found Thieves of Weirdwood a bit confusing but an enjoyable fantasy novel. I think that I might like it better as an audiobook.

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Entertaining story about two young thieves who get more than they bargained for when they break into a "deserted" mansion and find their way into an imaginary realm where the world they knew is duplicated - but with strange and even horrifying differences.

The story was engrossing, and I especially liked Arthur trying to pattern himself as a "Gentleman Thief" after the hero of his favorite adventure series.

I was concerned by some murders that take place off-stage, but about which Wally learns details afterward because he is able to talk to spirits.

Would young readers be upset by the detail, for example, of a woman who was torn apart by a monster? Or a girl who was killed by a man who was trying to resurrect his dead wife? These seem like morbid details in a story that is otherwise billed as having "lots of laughs."

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If you are a Rock Riordan fan and a fan of mystery, fantasy and love character background development and imagery this book is for you. If you are not you may stuggle with reading it. I enjoyed this book it. I did not read it in one sitting but rather over a long weekend. It can be daunting at times and it can seem like there are multiple stories rolled up into one but the method of writing is similar to Rick Riordan and I am a fan.

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Recived this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book had a lot of potential. The idea of the real world and imaginary worlds, the order keeping them safe, even the cover was eye catching.

The only problem was that there was so much going on that it was so chaotic and difficult to read and keep track of. The characters where okay but got lost in all the things happening that they where really over shadowed. This is definitely not a sad one for me because the premise and description sounded so fun and unique but it was just a maze of chaos that I just got lost and couldn't keep track of thing and I'm an adult reader I feel kids would loose interest and not even try to finish this book.

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Really wanted to like this one, but found I could never really get into it. So much was mashed together in the world building I quickly lost interest.

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