This book is like an
AOL news headline. They just want your click. How often have you read a headline
that seemed off the wall… intriguing… promising, and you follow the link only
to find that it was old news… sensationalist… not the information you were
expecting? Or you watch a movie trailer and it looks hilarious… action-packed…
innovative, only to find that the best lines, best action sequences, best CGI
effects were in the trailer? When you get to the end… if you even get that far…
you feel like you have wasted your time, your money, your time AND money!
Yeah. The name of this
book is a secret. The author’s name is a secret. There is a secret inside, but
it is never revealed. The more you read, the more you are told that you are not
allowed to know anything – for your own good. Better to have taken the author’s
advice and NOT READ THE BOOK.
Yes, this book is as
close to Lemony Snicket’s Series
of Unfortunate Events as it gets. I read ALL thirteen books in that series and really, the
first three were enough to get the point. I continued to read that series for
the final reveal and was disappointed beyond all measure. I felt strung along
for the prize when there wasn’t one. Unlike the lottery, everyone should have
the chance to win, and in the end, no one does.
(If you are looking
for something similar to Lemony Snicket, let me instead direct you to the How to Train Your Dragon series by Cressida Cowell. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, and let me
say, it is NOTHING like the book. They are separate and distinct, but the book
series is delightful and goes on for nine volumes so far. I just ordered #9.
The girls and I have enjoyed them all. You still have a tongue-in-cheek
narrator, but he is comedic rather than annoying or morbid.)
I was excited to read The Name of This Book is Secret. The title did its
job. It was even fun for a few chapters in the beginning and even here and
there. By midway, I was falling asleep. I struggled to maintain interest. I
found the main story to be farfetched in the extreme. It seemed disjointed as
well. When evil villains start selling the juices from the brains of
lobotomized children… I become, well, quite turned off. Not for me or mine.
And yet, there is the
group of children who have never seen a book like this before. They were too
young for Lemony Snicket. They think they have found something new and
irreverent. They clamor for the annoying… irritating… grating voice of a
mischievous author who makes you think you are getting something special, while
misleading you with his sleight of voice.
This book is a 2013
Bluestem Nominee… How about NomiNOT!
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