Thursday, January 24, 2013

Inkspell


Book: Inkspell by Cornelia Funke

Description: The captivating sequel to INKHEART, the critically acclaimed, international bestseller by Cornelia Funke--available for the first time in a beautifully designed trade paperback!

Although a year has passed, not a day goes by without Meggie thinking of INKHEART, the book whose characters became real. But for Dustfinger, the fire-eater brought into being from words, the need to return to the tale has become desperate. When he finds a crooked storyteller with the ability to read him back, Dustfinger leaves behind his young apprentice Farid and plunges into the medieval world of his past. Distraught, Farid goes in search of Meggie, and before long, both are caught inside the book, too. But the story is threatening to evolve in ways neither of them could ever have imagined. (from Amazon.com)

I must admit, I wasn't nearly as impressed with this book as I was the first, Inkheart. It was really long, and I found most of the characters to be stupid--repeatedly. I just couldn't get into it, although I did finish it and do intend to read the third book just because the first one was so good.

As mentioned above, my biggest problem with this book was the characters. I just didn't like them! They were very realistic, in that had a lot of fear, and didn't ever want to risk their lives, as well as having desires that weren't that smart but made sense for the character. The one exception was Dustfinger--he developed into a pretty awesome, caring character who worked to save others from injustice and made incredible sacrifices. It was a complete change from his character in Inkheart, a change that I didn't find particularly convincing but still appreciated. He was really the only one who by the end of the book was doing the right thing for the right reasons, or really the right thing at all.

For everyone else, the story really just showed the futility of trying to control your own story, your own life. Meggie and Fenoglio kept trying to make the story better by writing and reading new stories, but each one went horribly wrong. There are no easy fixes to injustice and the brokenness of this world. 
It was also a good reminder that the world of a book may seem wonderful, but actually living out a story is something else entirely. 

As per usual with Funke, the book was full of beautiful, wonderful descriptions.

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