As Kendra and Seth’s parents off to a cruise, they visit their Grandfather Sorenson’s house for one summer vacation. But as they lived in their grandpa’s house, not just the rules are seem to be odd but also the place their grandpa claimed to be his own.Kendra being the rule bearer and Seth as the rule breaker, one will try to break his grandfather’s rule while one will try to obey the said rule. However, both ways will unveil the secrets behind Fablehaven. And as they venture Fablehaven, they discover creatures and beautiful places but unfortunately set free a force of evil.It’s been actually three years since I set the space in my bookshelf for this book. When the time I signed up for goodreads, Fablehaven and The Lightning Thief were the books that rocketed on my top wish list. Since The Lightning Thief had stricken first the availability I went for it first. Besides, Fablehaven is a little shy to show up until lately. Three years of waiting for this book is worth it, but more like three years of waiting to be in an updated bookstore is worth it. At last I bought and have read this book after as if a millennium.I pretty enjoyed this book. I mean I enjoyed this book literally like laughing out loud while I was in my room. I am really light at laughing because I immediately laugh at simple jokes but Jesus! Drop the corny ones and thus the jokes in this book exempt from being corny for once again this book made me laugh.I truly admire Mull for being magnificent at creating a smooth story flow. As we experienced in other books we are as if bombed in our chair while reading a certain book for a sudden pop up of a concept without a farther or even nearer notice. Drop again this book from the others because this book will not suddenly say “I am a vampire” or “You’re a werewolf”. Mull as if slowly pulled a curtain for gradual recognition and realization of his concept. A hint after hint is a good way of a better acceptance for a reader to immediately sink in the concept.Since I can’t say other words toward how I’m amazed with this book. All I can offer with this review is just comparison and contrast from the other books. So the next to tackle is the creature in this book—the fairies. Let’s accept it, when we hear fairies all we could think of is a girlish story. Well not all because there are still Artemis Fowl and this book to spare. I couldn’t really understand the authors these days. Why? Other authors, in order for them to show their understanding towards their creature that unfortunately exist already in a mythical history, try to bend the persona of a certain mythical creature by mixing it with love story and thus they think it’s a better introduction for the reader to grasp the new persona they put into the altered mythical creature. Mull quite did an impressive way of showing his fairies without further modification of the creature and even brushing a slight touch of love story. To add my points, almost all of the books I’ve read that have fairies depict only the bad side of them and for a light change, this book has not followed the others.I highly recommend this book to the readers who enjoyed The Lightning Thief for Rick Riordan is not the only one who can strike you with his books; so does Brandon Mull.Drink the Milk.
I find it very difficult to write a review for this book. I suppose I'll start with the fact that I'd expected the book to focus more on the actual "Fantastical Preserve" - ie, what a caretaker actually does day-in and day-out to care for magical creatures. However, there really wasn't any of that. Or very little at least. It was more like a giant patch of land where the magical beings could exist. Which, is fine, just not what I'd expected.So, now for the unfortunate things - at least, in my opinion. I didn't really like the main characters all that well. I thought I did, for a while, but then they were just annoying. Everyone had their promising qualities, etc., but nobody really stood out to me as someone you were rooting for. The children were constantly disobeying "rules" as well as annoying each other. And while this had ramifications, it didn't seem to register with the kids... at least not as soon as it seemed it should have. On a similar topic, I found the lack of communication with the children just as disappointing, and again, the ramifications didn't seem to fit really. I wasn't very happy that one of the "messages" seemed to be "follow the rules because they are the rules." Perhaps this will be addressed in later books, but it wasn't satisfying for me in this book. Additionally, the ramifications for not telling the children all they needed to know was pretty sever, and again, I'm not sure how well the characters "learned their lessons." But, again, it is a series... so....Also, the writing style was okay, but nothing that really astounded me. Sometimes it felt like a lot of time was spent on things that weren't really that important. Also, a warning for squirmish readers, some parts are rather nasty. There's nothing really, really, bad, and it's fine still as a young adult fantasy story. But there are some fairly gross descriptions, and some somewhat sad moments.Finally, I could never really grasp the "world" of Fablehaven. I wasn't clear on how and why magic did or did not work. It felt, and perhaps this is unfair, but that the author was making the rules to fit the plot he wanted, instead of working it the other way around. Some things just seemed too convenient. But again, 'tis a series.So, why give it three stars instead of none? Because, for whatever reason, I was still interested in the story. Because the initial chapters and the final five or so were well done and held my interest quite well. Because some descriptions were very pretty, and I loved the Lake setting as well as the descriptions of the fairies! Also, I was impressed with how well things came together for the "climax" and thought the author did a better job of tying things back together than I would have expected. So, oddly enough, I find myself curious to read the next book, but unfortunately I was not nearly as impressed as I was with other fantasy stories. Hopefully the next few will be better!***I'm so curious about this book! It's Katie's and my next "to-read-together" book:)
What do You think about Fablehaven (2006)?
My daughter, Sarah, (8 years old, but a great reader) and I have loved this book, as well as its sequel, Rise of the Evening Star. She is currently reading the third, Grip of the Shadow Plague because she snatched it up before I could! Brandon Mull (another LDS author...they seems to be everywhere...) has created a vibrant fantasy series with great characters and snappy dialogue. Because there are both a brother and sister at the center of the intrigue, this will appeal to both boys and girls (the sister is older, and the most central character, but the brother is brave and boasting and thoroughly delightful). The kids are farmed off to Grandma and Grandpa's house, only to discover that they are caretakers for a preserve of magical creatures. All sorts of mischief and mayhem ensues. There are some scary/tense moments, when you have small doubts about everyone's safety, but only enough to keep the story compelling. (One time, during the first book, Sarah came to me and asked me to finish reading the chapter with her because, "it's freaking me out!" We finished it together, and all was well.) The vocabulary is challenging, the plot is complex enough to demand careful attention from readers, and there is a thoughtful reading guide in the back to aid in discussions. A great foray into thoughtful readings of difficult books.
—Jolie
It was hard to determine what rating to give this book--I think 2.5 is my verdict. For "interesting concept" I'd give it four stars--but for execution/delivery only two stars. On "fulfilling expectations" I'd give it one star. This is one of the most disappointing reads I've come across. Thankfully the final few chapters were decent, so that saved the book from being a dismal failure in my mind. Without giving away too much of the plot, I must say that this book is NOT really about caring for magical creatures on some sort of enchanted preserve. It is rather about all the stupid things the kids staying there do that messes things up, gets other people in trouble, unleashes terrible creatures, and makes things pretty crummy. And, yes, I felt that most of the characters were pretty dumb--certainly not very likable. Even the Grandpa--I think he was supposed to be wise, as he is in charge of the whole preserve--doesn't really have a clue what to do half the time. And his half-truths and lack of confidence in the children leads to many problems that could have been avoided had he been more open--and also if the kids had been less obnoxious, selfish and stupid. Alas, I really didn't care if an evil beast ate up the little brother after he went wandering through parts of the preserve that he had been warned not to go. Unlike the kids in Harry Potter, who usually have very good reasons for disobeying rules, Seth is just being a troublesome little boy. Many of the "deep" issues of the tale are never resolved, like how only immortal creatures have no morals... The writing style was also not that great. A few of the scenes were quite good, but most of the story lagged. Also, a few parts just seemed a bit creepy/weird and I wondered at the appropriateness for children. That is:******SPOILER ALERT: The children see their grandmother naked--at another point, she teaches them how to give a massage to a troll in order to send him into a state of ecstasy. In another part, the kids have to slide down the utters/tips of a giant cow. Was this supposed to be funny? It just seemed a bit icky to me.******All in all, it was a decent enough story for me to finish but I really wished the writing and character development had been good enough to really deliver what promised to be such a neat story. There are much better fantasy books out there!
—Kathryn
When my sister-in-law suggested this book, saying she loved it, I was a little hesitant to read it. I thought we really didn't have the same book tastes, but then I was browsing in the library the other day (one of my favorite things), and I decided to give it a try. I absolutely loved it! I guess that means I'll have to listen to her more.I really love the cover of this book. I'm amazed at the artwork on most fantasy books' covers. It really draws me in, especially when they're something going on and not just a pattern or a flower or something. I think the thing I liked best about this story is that there were a lot of fairies, and I love fairies. It's hard to find a good fairy story. The other fantasy creatures in this book were interesting and well done, too.Of course the characters got on my nerves a bit, but they were children. My own kids get on my nerves on a daily basis. :) The good thing is, these characters acted like kids. They weren't miniature adults. They didn't talk and think like adults. I would definitely recommend this one--to kids, fantasy lovers, and to anyone who loves a good fairy tale.
—Brenda
