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Christine Brodien-Jones

Autor(a) de The Owl Keeper

4 Works 350 Membros 9 Reviews

About the Author

Obras de Christine Brodien-Jones

The Owl Keeper (2010) 284 cópias
The Scorpions of Zahir (2012) 30 cópias
The Glass Puzzle (2013) 24 cópias
The Dreamkeepers (1992) 12 cópias

Etiquetado

Conhecimento Comum

Sexo
female

Membros

Resenhas

The story was interesting but filled with convenient plot shifts. Rose could suddenly see when she needed to. Rose conveniently found the secret message when Max couldn’t. The sickly owl wasn’t sickly when she had to fight, but was at other times. Overall, the writing seemed lazy to me. But if the author was a little bit more creative or had given more important parts of the story more time, it could have been truly compelling.
 
Marcado
pmichaud | outras 7 resenhas | Dec 21, 2020 |
This was a pleasant read, as others have said. But, the end is disappointing. It is set up like a sequel was going to be done, but instead there is no sequel and this book ends with a TON of unanswered questions, so it's really dissatisfying. Even though Max (FINALLY) figures out that he is the Owl Keeper and the owls' power is restored, the story ends without us knowing what happened to his parents, what happens to the High Echelon, what happened to Rose's parents, and whether the miraculous return of the owls even means anything in the long run. Either there was supposed to be a sequel and there never was or the author just... lost interest? Didn't think her audience would care about the entire rest of the story or even notice she didn't finish it? Didn't know where to take it next or how to resolve the remaining so she just gave up and quickly ended it? I have no idea.

Also, I agreed with the others who said that Max is underwhelming, wishy-washy, grossly gullible, and had almost no self-awareness. But, as tiresome and annoying as it was I could see younger readers (target audience) not making these connections as easily and needing the added character of Rose to provide that input and help Max grow as he figures out how and why he was lied to his entire life. We also have to remember that this is a brain-washing story, which means that it is arguable that it would be painfully difficult for Max to make these connections over time, if at all.

Oh, and one other thing bothered me. When Max let the "special" skraek go, although I understood that in the long run it would end up saving their lives, my first thought was that, if his owl means so much to him, why did it never occur to him that letting the skraek go would put her in danger? Honestly, I wasn't sure which would happen: that the skraek would serve a purpose in helping Max and Rose later or if he would inadvertently cause the death of his owl. Because he didn't release the skraek that far from the owl and because the sole purpose of skraeks is to destroy things, especially owls and people, it wasn't clear to me why it was never a threat to the owl and this was never addressed.

If the book had gone on to tie up all the loose ends, I might've given it five stars, it really was a fascinating idea and well-written, it's just the end was so abrupt that it dropped a whole star for me.
… (mais)
 
Marcado
wordcauldron | outras 7 resenhas | Jul 28, 2018 |
I enjoyed this book most for its setting in Tenby, Wales, especially as my husband and I are hoping to visit the country in the future. Before finishing the story, I searched the web for photos and information on Tenby, an old port town and discovered nearby Caldey Island with a Cistercian monastery. These are places I'd love to visit and this reminded me of other books set in Wales and other places to visit: Aberstywyth from A String in the Harp, by Nancy Bond; the Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander (set in ancient Wales; based on mythology); Jenny Nimmo's The Snow Spider; the Dysynni Valley in Gwynedd (northwest Wales), the great mountain Cader Idris, and the village of Tywyn in Susan Cooper's The Grey King (as well as the other four books in The Dark Is Rising sequence).

Zoe and Ian are strong characters, each supporting the other. Zoe is dramatic and action-oriented, while Ian is the steadier puzzle-solver, less likely to jump headlong into danger. I like how they admire each others' traits. As the plot progresses, the dialogue between them becomes a bit repetitive; they tend to admire the same things over and over. Grandad seems strong in the beginning, but suddenly weak toward the end. The seer, Bron, is a mysterious character, but I didn't picture her as she's illustrated. When Zoe and Ian travel into the past, the characters there are not very well-developed. Miss Glyndower in particular seemed stiff and stilted.

That said, I enjoyed some of the details in the story, including the descriptions of Tenby, tidbits of Welsh culture, and the Welsh words Zoe learns and writes in her journal. "Hiraeth" is Welsh for nostalgia, a yearning for home. "Sea Kestrel" is a great name for a boat. The word "gloaming" is well-defined as the hazy air before dark in summer. One of Zoe and Ian's favorite Welsh breakfasts is laverbread, which is laver seaweed mixed with oats and fried in bacon fat, along with Glengettie tea. The map of Old Tenby is a fine addition and will be fun to compare to the actual town. I also admired the paragraph on magic near the end of the story; that it's not only "spells and enchantments" but about knowing yourself. A good message for all ages.
… (mais)
½
 
Marcado
bookwren | Feb 11, 2016 |
The owl keeper is about a boy named Maxwell, who finds a silver owl. Maxwell gets a disease which makes him allergic to sun rays, plus he always likes the dark. Maxwell's gran, or so he calls his grandma, use to tell him stories about the world before the destruction. Maxwell has also been abscessed with silver owls. But a cording to the high Elckton , the government, says that silver owls are extinct. A cording to his gran the owl keeper would unit all owls and protect the world from the powers of the dark. Maxwell waits for the owl keeper, and soon does. Maxwell will have to find the courage inside him to enter the forest to find the owl keeper and the silver owls. Soon after Maxwell becomes the new owl keeper.
In my opinion the book was exiting and adventurous at the same time. The fact that some one can be allergic to the sun rays kind of scared me. During the beginning of the book I was starting to think that is was boring and stupid. When 72 it got interesting because Maxwell found the owl keeper and then on it was exiting and adventurous. The exiting part was when the government was not a good guy and they wanted to get rid of all silver owls. The adventurous part was when Maxwell went into the forest to find the owl keeper. But the ending was kind of predictable that Maxwell was going to become the new owl keeper.
… (mais)
 
Marcado
wyliep.b4 | outras 7 resenhas | Oct 28, 2015 |

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Estatísticas

Obras
4
Membros
350
Popularidade
#68,329
Avaliação
½ 3.5
Resenhas
9
ISBNs
17

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