Deborah's Books: Review: Between Two Ends by David Ward

Monday, August 1, 2011

Review: Between Two Ends by David Ward

From Goodreads: When Yeats and his parents visit his grandmother's creepy old house, Yeats reunites a pair of pirate bookends and uncovers the amazing truth: Years ago, Yeats's father traveled into The Arabian Nights with a friend, and the friend, Shari, is still stuck in the tales. Assisted by the not-always-trustworthy pirates, Yeats must navigate the unfamiliar world of the story of Shaharazad--dodging guards and tigers and the dangerous things that lurk in the margins of the stories--in order to save Shari and bring peace to his family.

David Ward has created a fantasy rich with atmosphere and full of heart-stopping drama.

**

I have, like, 17 book reviews in my queue, but I HAD to bump this one up to the front. I started this book yesterday morning...and finished last night.

What a fantastic book! I loved it. The adventure was intriguing, the story was interesting, the details about magic, books and wishes were brilliant. It was clean, it was entertaining, it was awesome. I was not disappointed at all. The ending was a lead in to a sequel, and I can't wait to read it.

I was, however, a little confused by some things. I had a hard time understanding exactly where Gran's house is. It sounded like this was all set in Europe, but then Yeats mentions his Gran's address is in the US. Also, Yeats is not really described. His father (as a boy) is vaguely described, and we know he looks just like his father. Other than that, I guess the rest is up to the imagination.

Again, this was a fantastic book. It reminded me a lot of Inkheart, but not in an annoying way. It didn't feel like the author copied the Inkheart story, it just had the same adventure feeling, and they both happen to involve traveling into books. The reading level is middle grade, but I think YA readers will also enjoy this story.

Highly, highly recommended.