I loved the whimsical, fairy-tale, fable-ish prose. It has that Narnia thing going on, where really dark and difficult themes and ideas are packaged and made palatable to kids through the language (well, some kids- there are scenes in the book that I wouldn't have been comfortable hearing until I was on the far end of the middle grade spectrum). The only qualm I have is that it's a bit TOO Narnia-Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland, to the point where it can feel derivative. The villain here is an evil, pale woman who takes over a fantasy land where the animals talk, while the true ruler is off somewhere doing something else. That evil woman lives in a big castle where she keeps cognizant animals in a cage and then takes a human child and manipulates her into betraying her family. Also known as, the basic plot of Narnia. But it's different enough that I forgave it.Also, there's a good bit of fantasy-style-deus-ex-machina happening. You know- where the main character suddenly realizes something about herself that magically saves the day, even though there's no reason for her to know it except for HEY MAGIC N SHIZ.But! It's a dark-but-lovely fairy tale with an only partially happy ending, and those are sort of my favorite because they're true to life. This story reads like a true Fairy tale.....think of the Grimm variety here. There were some rather horrific scenes that reminded me of the classic Grimm tales that I grew up on. I think the reading level of this one might challenge a lot of 9 and 10 year olds so it is a great choice for avid readers. I think it would also be a suitable novel study book as the imagery is stunning and there were some powerful messages about family values.
What do You think about Vogelherz (2014)?
es war ne gute Idee, außergewöhnlich und jaaaaa mehr in der Rezension xD
—Coll
Beautifully written and refreshingly different.
—olive
