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juushikaTitle: I, Coriander
Author: Sally Gardner
Published: New York: Dial Books, 2005
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 279
Total Page Count: 43,889
Text Number: 127
Read For: personal enjoyment, checked out from the library
Short review: In England, 1643, a young girl named Coriander lives happily with her father, a successful tradesman, and her mother, who makes medicines from plants. Many years later, as a young adult, Coriander sits down to write her life's story—both in our world, where tragedy befalls her family and Puritanism takes over England, and in a fairy world, where she fights to restore a young prince to freedom. In both stories, Coriander both discovers and creates her true identity. Part fairy tale, part historical novel, and part coming of age story, I, Coriander is written in an accessible first-person narrative and delightfully combines the real and the fantastic, but on the whole is an unremarkable book. Only moderately recommended.
The first person narration, Coriander's character, and the coming of age story that runs throughout the text makes this an accessible story that should appeal to young adult readers. Coriander tells the story in her own voice (but not, thankfully, in a diary, so the style is not artificial, and the story is told skillfully), and she is a forthright, vivacious, modern young woman despite living in the 1600s. Her voice is approachable, making her a sympathetic character. Her liveliness will appeal to modern readers, and provides a welcome lesson about discovering and being true to oneself, even in the face of oppression—from individuals, or from society itself. Apart from the narrator, the novel's strength lies in the its thoughtful combination of magic and reality. Each takes place in a different world, but these two worlds are united in Coriander, and both are essential to the discovery and creation of her character. The magic is often delightful, sometimes scary, and always fantastic, adding an unusual edge that breaks the novel out of the mold of historical fiction and makes Coriander's journey all the greater and more important. On the whole, the narrator, narrative, and double settings combine to make this an approachable, swiftly readable text that is meaningful, fun, and relevant.
For all of these positive qualities, however, I, Coriander is not a remarkable or particularly memorable text. There is no single cause for this deficiency. In part, the magical world that Coriander enters is not conceived in much detail or very well explained, so—despite the fact that she sets out to rescue a prince—her journey there has only a limited importance to and impact on the reader. Many of the book's antagonists are simple, exaggerated, half-comical brands of evil, so while what they do is frustrating or scary, they are not complete, realistic, or truly frightening characters. The book's conclusion is at once too short and too simple, wrapping up very quickly but never truly identifying how Coriander's journey has changed her, or what personal rewards there are for her growth. For these reasons, and for a few others, the book, although certainly not bad, is ultimately unremarkable.
I found I, Corainader to a swift read, with an entertaining and identifiable protagonist, a tidy plot with delightful magic, and somewhat overdrawn conflicts and villains. I do recommend this book to those that stumble upon it, but I only recommend it moderately. This isn't a book worth seeking out and probably not worth purchasing—instead, I would recommend borrowing it, because I doubt it holds much reread potential. It is appropriate for and will probably be enjoyable to young adult readers, probably in a lower age bracket (10-14 years).
Review posted here at Amazon.com.
Author: Sally Gardner
Published: New York: Dial Books, 2005
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 279
Total Page Count: 43,889
Text Number: 127
Read For: personal enjoyment, checked out from the library
Short review: In England, 1643, a young girl named Coriander lives happily with her father, a successful tradesman, and her mother, who makes medicines from plants. Many years later, as a young adult, Coriander sits down to write her life's story—both in our world, where tragedy befalls her family and Puritanism takes over England, and in a fairy world, where she fights to restore a young prince to freedom. In both stories, Coriander both discovers and creates her true identity. Part fairy tale, part historical novel, and part coming of age story, I, Coriander is written in an accessible first-person narrative and delightfully combines the real and the fantastic, but on the whole is an unremarkable book. Only moderately recommended.
The first person narration, Coriander's character, and the coming of age story that runs throughout the text makes this an accessible story that should appeal to young adult readers. Coriander tells the story in her own voice (but not, thankfully, in a diary, so the style is not artificial, and the story is told skillfully), and she is a forthright, vivacious, modern young woman despite living in the 1600s. Her voice is approachable, making her a sympathetic character. Her liveliness will appeal to modern readers, and provides a welcome lesson about discovering and being true to oneself, even in the face of oppression—from individuals, or from society itself. Apart from the narrator, the novel's strength lies in the its thoughtful combination of magic and reality. Each takes place in a different world, but these two worlds are united in Coriander, and both are essential to the discovery and creation of her character. The magic is often delightful, sometimes scary, and always fantastic, adding an unusual edge that breaks the novel out of the mold of historical fiction and makes Coriander's journey all the greater and more important. On the whole, the narrator, narrative, and double settings combine to make this an approachable, swiftly readable text that is meaningful, fun, and relevant.
For all of these positive qualities, however, I, Coriander is not a remarkable or particularly memorable text. There is no single cause for this deficiency. In part, the magical world that Coriander enters is not conceived in much detail or very well explained, so—despite the fact that she sets out to rescue a prince—her journey there has only a limited importance to and impact on the reader. Many of the book's antagonists are simple, exaggerated, half-comical brands of evil, so while what they do is frustrating or scary, they are not complete, realistic, or truly frightening characters. The book's conclusion is at once too short and too simple, wrapping up very quickly but never truly identifying how Coriander's journey has changed her, or what personal rewards there are for her growth. For these reasons, and for a few others, the book, although certainly not bad, is ultimately unremarkable.
I found I, Corainader to a swift read, with an entertaining and identifiable protagonist, a tidy plot with delightful magic, and somewhat overdrawn conflicts and villains. I do recommend this book to those that stumble upon it, but I only recommend it moderately. This isn't a book worth seeking out and probably not worth purchasing—instead, I would recommend borrowing it, because I doubt it holds much reread potential. It is appropriate for and will probably be enjoyable to young adult readers, probably in a lower age bracket (10-14 years).
Review posted here at Amazon.com.
