Author: Alex Flinn
Genre: YA fairytale retelling
Pages: 341
Rating: C+
Synopsis from goodreads.com: I’m not your average hero. I actually wasn’t your average anything. Just a poor guy working an after-school job at a South Beach shoe repair shop to help his mom make ends meet. But a little magic changed it all.
It all started with the curse. And the frognapping. And one hot-looking princess, who asked me to lead a rescue mission.
There wasn’t a fairy godmother or any of that. And even though I fell in love along the way, what happened to me is unlike any fairy tale I’ve ever heard. Before I knew it, I was spying with a flock of enchanted swans, talking (yes, talking!) to a fox named Todd, and nearly trampled by giants in the Keys.
Don’t believe me? I didn’t believe it either. But you’ll see. Because I knew it all was true, the second I got CLOAKED.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I loved Beastly by Alex Flinn so when I saw that my library had a few more of her books, I couldn't wait to read them. But Cloaked did not live up to my expectations. While I did enjoy the fact that Flinn adapted lesser known fairy-tales in this book, it didn't change the fact that the story was corny, full of stereotypes, and horribly cliched. Now, I realize fairy-tales themselves are often cheesy, stereotypical, and cliched, but as an adaption, Cloaked could have avoided some of the cliches and given the characters more development (I'm not sure there's a way to remove the cheesiness from this plot).
The main character, Johnny, is the only character with any sort of depth to him. He's your typical, hard-working American teenager... who wants to be a world-famous shoe designer. His attraction to the hot princess and her money lead him on a crazy adventure, and his cynicism and baffled reactions towards the magic and events surrounding him is real and believable.
The rest of the characters are two-dimensional stereotypes. The prince and princess are spoiled brats with ridiculous accents and Disney-princess/prince looks; the girl-next-door is obviously into Johnny but nowhere near pretty enough to tempt him; the villains are either bumbling idiots or wicked witches, all with stupid "Zalkenbourgian" accents.
What kept me from really disliking the book were the magical animals and the lesser-known fairy-tales. The talking animals were funny, sarcastic, and a breath of fresh air. I think I would've preferred an entire book about just them. And the use of other fairy-tales besides the typical ones (Cinderella, Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood, etc.) was refreshing and fun. I especially loved the story of the six swans who are rescued by their sister.
According to other Flinn fans, Cloaked is not her best work so I still intend to check out her other books (especially since I loved Beastly). I'm just really glad this wasn't the first book of Flinn's I ever read, because I would have never given her other books a chance. C+
The main character, Johnny, is the only character with any sort of depth to him. He's your typical, hard-working American teenager... who wants to be a world-famous shoe designer. His attraction to the hot princess and her money lead him on a crazy adventure, and his cynicism and baffled reactions towards the magic and events surrounding him is real and believable.
The rest of the characters are two-dimensional stereotypes. The prince and princess are spoiled brats with ridiculous accents and Disney-princess/prince looks; the girl-next-door is obviously into Johnny but nowhere near pretty enough to tempt him; the villains are either bumbling idiots or wicked witches, all with stupid "Zalkenbourgian" accents.
What kept me from really disliking the book were the magical animals and the lesser-known fairy-tales. The talking animals were funny, sarcastic, and a breath of fresh air. I think I would've preferred an entire book about just them. And the use of other fairy-tales besides the typical ones (Cinderella, Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood, etc.) was refreshing and fun. I especially loved the story of the six swans who are rescued by their sister.
According to other Flinn fans, Cloaked is not her best work so I still intend to check out her other books (especially since I loved Beastly). I'm just really glad this wasn't the first book of Flinn's I ever read, because I would have never given her other books a chance. C+
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you so much for commenting! I always appreciate reading what you have to say.