Jennifer M. (Kaydence) reviewed The Mark of the Dragonfly (World of Solace, Bk 1) on + 380 more book reviews
Summary:
Piper scraps debris from meteor storms in order to survive. She's basically been on her own, so when her only friend ends up in trouble, she is determined to save him. In the process, she ends up rescuing a girl who has lost her memory. This girl, Anna, is special. She has a tattoo that marks her as someone protected by a very powerful king. If Piper can return Anna home, then her whole life will change. There are two major issues. First, in order to get Anna home, they will need to take a train that is both dangerous and expensive. Finding a way to stowaway on it is nearly impossible. Second, there seems to be someone following Anna. Will Piper be able to help Anna get home or will both of their lives be in danger?
My thoughts:
There is a lot going on in this book! I was sucked in within the first forty pages. Johnson has done an excellent job with pacing. For a rather long book (in terms of middle grade novels), this does not feel like it is 400 pages. With a mixture of excellent character development, magic and mechanics mixed together, and adventure and mystery, this book just flies. I was definitely staying up into the wee hours of the night to finish up and see what happened to Piper and Anna. I also liked how Anna's character developed. Since she had lost her memory, getting to know her took a little bit longer. While there is some steampunk, it is not really a focus of the novel. I like how it is just as if the mechanical aspects are a part of the setting without overpowering the characters or plot. It didn't seem like Johnson was just adding things in to draw in an audience. This is really an adventure tale that just happens to have the steampunk twist to it. While overall the reading level and most of the content would be appropriate for 5th grade, I would shoot this for 7th grade and up. I can easily see some of my high school students enjoying it.
Piper scraps debris from meteor storms in order to survive. She's basically been on her own, so when her only friend ends up in trouble, she is determined to save him. In the process, she ends up rescuing a girl who has lost her memory. This girl, Anna, is special. She has a tattoo that marks her as someone protected by a very powerful king. If Piper can return Anna home, then her whole life will change. There are two major issues. First, in order to get Anna home, they will need to take a train that is both dangerous and expensive. Finding a way to stowaway on it is nearly impossible. Second, there seems to be someone following Anna. Will Piper be able to help Anna get home or will both of their lives be in danger?
My thoughts:
There is a lot going on in this book! I was sucked in within the first forty pages. Johnson has done an excellent job with pacing. For a rather long book (in terms of middle grade novels), this does not feel like it is 400 pages. With a mixture of excellent character development, magic and mechanics mixed together, and adventure and mystery, this book just flies. I was definitely staying up into the wee hours of the night to finish up and see what happened to Piper and Anna. I also liked how Anna's character developed. Since she had lost her memory, getting to know her took a little bit longer. While there is some steampunk, it is not really a focus of the novel. I like how it is just as if the mechanical aspects are a part of the setting without overpowering the characters or plot. It didn't seem like Johnson was just adding things in to draw in an audience. This is really an adventure tale that just happens to have the steampunk twist to it. While overall the reading level and most of the content would be appropriate for 5th grade, I would shoot this for 7th grade and up. I can easily see some of my high school students enjoying it.
Crystal S. (crytal) reviewed The Mark of the Dragonfly (World of Solace, Bk 1) on + 155 more book reviews
I was given a copy of this book from the publishers via NetGalley, in return for an honest review.
I fell a little confused about how I want to rate The Mark of the Dragonfly. There were things I liked about it and things that bothered me a little. I didn't not like it, but I'm not too sure that I can say that I really liked it either.
The good: The Mark of the Dragonfly held my interest most of the way through. It takes place in a made up land and I liked how the author didn't explain things that we didn't know about, the made up words that were commonplace to the story. I've noticed that most of the time, this doesn't work, the reader just feels lost in this new world. But I didn't find it confusing at all for this book. I also found myself surprised at the same time as the main character when a twist was presented.
The not so good: This book read a little young for me. I know it was geared towards younger readers, but sometimes you'll find that YA books actually have an older target. This one wasn't like that for me. I felt like it was beneath my intelligence level somehow. I still enjoyed it, but not in the way that I think I could have if the writing was different somehow. There were also parts towards the beginning where I started to fade out, lost my interest, but it usually picked back up again pretty quickly. The ending was neat and tidy, which I generally love to see in a story, but for some reason that I can't put my finger on, it just didn't feel right. There was something missing.
Over all, I guess that I would give the book a good rating, not because it was good, but rather because it wasn't bad.
I fell a little confused about how I want to rate The Mark of the Dragonfly. There were things I liked about it and things that bothered me a little. I didn't not like it, but I'm not too sure that I can say that I really liked it either.
The good: The Mark of the Dragonfly held my interest most of the way through. It takes place in a made up land and I liked how the author didn't explain things that we didn't know about, the made up words that were commonplace to the story. I've noticed that most of the time, this doesn't work, the reader just feels lost in this new world. But I didn't find it confusing at all for this book. I also found myself surprised at the same time as the main character when a twist was presented.
The not so good: This book read a little young for me. I know it was geared towards younger readers, but sometimes you'll find that YA books actually have an older target. This one wasn't like that for me. I felt like it was beneath my intelligence level somehow. I still enjoyed it, but not in the way that I think I could have if the writing was different somehow. There were also parts towards the beginning where I started to fade out, lost my interest, but it usually picked back up again pretty quickly. The ending was neat and tidy, which I generally love to see in a story, but for some reason that I can't put my finger on, it just didn't feel right. There was something missing.
Over all, I guess that I would give the book a good rating, not because it was good, but rather because it wasn't bad.
