Charlie Bone And The Beast (2007) - Plot & Excerpts
What I liked:-Dagbert. I thought he was a fascinating character, and I loved the ill effects his power had. Having to carry around those little golden sea creatures forever can’t be easy. Even though I knew that he was going to be evil when he showed up with Lord Grimwald, I honestly thought he was just trying to fit in, that he was just looking for a friend. I think he really wanted to be Charlie’s friend, and he maybe didn’t understand why Charlie got angry with him.-Plot. Unlike the previous books in the series, this series dealt mostly with the title. Whereas the others kind of branched off into a bunch of unimportant stuff, Charlie pretty much stayed on track throughout the entire book, and this book definitely benefited from it. Rescuing Asa was the main point of the book, and I thought this was Charlie’s greatest adventure to date.What I disliked:-Writing Style. I hate third person. It seems so impersonal, and I don’t like not getting an inside look at the character’s thoughts and emotions and feelings. I think the series really suffers from the writing, and I can’t help but think first person would have been a far better way to go. And perhaps first person might have given us a bit more detail, and I wouldn’t be left wondering what something looked like.-Olivia Vertigo. I hate this girl. Honestly, I can’t stand her. She’s such a shallow, fake, fair-weather friend. Her outburst towards Charlie was completely uncalled for, as any real friend of his would hopefully know that Charlie would never ever say anything like that. She’s too stuck up and she doesn’t seem to realize how much danger she and her friends are in. Plus, her disregard for her friend’s comfort and the carelessness she has towards her power make her one of my least favorite characters in the entire series.Overall, this book was my favorite in the series so far, I think. The plot was better, the characters were better, and the action was better. I would recommend this series to anyone that likes books about kids with superpowers. 4.0
(Genre: Children's fiction/fantasy) The Charlie Bone series is about a group of children in England that are "endowed" with special powers (descendants of the Red King) and go to a special boarding school so that the headmaster and his family who run the school (the Bloors) can keep tabs on them. There are also normal children who show special abilities in music, art, or drama that attend school with the endowed. Some of the children choose to use their abilities for good (i.e. Charlie and his friends), while others support the goals/desires of the Bloor family for power and control. The stories are always about the good vs. evil conflict that continues among the descendants of the Red King. The ideas behind the conflict are usually interesting and entertaining, but don't go into enough depth to really make the books stand out. There are a lot of characters introduced in the stories and at times they feel superficial because the character development is lacking. All the characters tend to be fairly 2 dimensional and that is disappointing. I try to remind myself that these are children's books and not everyone can write like JK Rowling--in a way that is interesting and compelling to young and old. That said, this new adventure for Charlie Bone involves the boy/beast Asa, who defected from the Bloors to aid Charlie in the last book. He is missing and Charlie is determined to find him. Everything runs in a pretty obvious direction and so any possible tension is minimal. The one bright spot is the introduction of Dagbert Endless and his powers. Very interesting. I hope that Nimmo will us more information on his story and flesh out his character more in future books.
What do You think about Charlie Bone And The Beast (2007)?
Reviewed by Cana Rensberger for TeensReadToo.comIn Ms. Nimmo's sixth book in the series featuring Charlie Bone, a kettle of trouble is brewing. Charlie and his friends once again lead the reader on a breathtaking adventure through the world of Bloor's Academy. Charlie is appointed official monitor to a new student who can control water. Charlie is not thrilled to have Dagbert following him everywhere. It soon becomes clear that Dagbert is doing everything he can to split up Charlie and his friends. Especially when strange things begin happening on Piminy Street. A strange beast, part human, part something else, howls in the night. Stone statues begin to move. Rivers overflow their banks without warning. Trolls come alive, and a blacksmith forges steel late into the night. Even Cook is afraid. Who are these strangers from the sea? Will Charlie and his friends be able to save Asa from the Bloors? There is a similarity between Ms. Nimmo's books and the famous Harry Potter series; the students go to a special school. But the similarity ends there. The books are written on an easier reading level for the younger reader. Ms. Nimmo is exceedingly imaginative in creating her characters and their endowments. I would love to see these characters on the big screen. She artfully doles out just enough morsels of the Red King's history to satisfy, while leaving a few crumbs behind to eagerly lead the reader to her next book. Ms. Nimmo has created another terrific page turner. I recommend that if you have read none of the CHILDREN OF THE RED KING series that you read them in order. But mostly...I recommend you read them.
—Jennifer Wardrip
Continuing the story of Charlie Bone was a good decision, but I felt like this book has too many inconsistencies. In one part of the book, Tancred says he is supposed to watch Manfred, and Lysander is supposed to watch Dagbert, but the end result is the opposite, as well as the fact that Tancred feels compelled to stand against Dagbert. Editing, people!!! The characters also seem to change their moods very often. We find out that Dr. Saltweather is endowed, and kind to Cook and Billy, but in the
—Stacy
Things seem to be a tad darker in Charlie's world this time around. Murder takes place in this book (albeit off-page) and someone is being imprisoned for his role in reuniting Charlie with his father.This book ends with what appears to be the end of a particular character's role in the story. It will be interesting to see if this person comes back. I kinda hope we haven't seen the last of this person.There are some lingering question marks around some of the "evil" characters which makes me wond
—Annie
