In Darkwood, the dark fairytale written by M.E. Breen, we meet Annie Trewitt, a young protagonist with grit and smarts and we find her very easy to love. She has all the things that great protagonists should have--an evil uncle and aunt, two cats who love her (when animals like a character, you know she's OK--animals, after all, are good judges of character.), determination, courage, and most importantly, we see her as a loyal and loving sister and friend.
I fell in love with Annie right off, when she was forced to flee her wicked uncle, but I loved her even more when she changed direction from running to save her life, to running toward her destiny--to save the lives of others, and to even save the throne.
STRENGTHS:
Breen has a great talent for description. She paints some scary villains. The evil men were horrific. Not too scary for children, I don't think, but gruesome in appearance.
His skin was gray and thick and full of holes, like poured wax, with little round black eyes stuck into it. A puffy white scar parted his hair as if someone tried to split his head open with an ax.
On the other hand she paints some delightful characters, too--old Grandmother Hoop who offers Annie a chuff off her pipe and the sisters, Beatrice and Serena, who befriend Annie.
Gregor and Page, the friend and sister Annie loved, who both died (or disappeared--we're not quite sure) before the story opened, become real to us as we share Annie's memories of them. We grow to love them as she loves them.
Plot was another strength. There is plenty of danger and conflict to keep the pages turning. When you couple the danger with the gloomy mood the author painted when she described her world, there was no way to lose interest in the story.
WEAKNESSES:
I should have loved this book because it's the kind of book I do love. It had characters I loved and a moody setting. But I didn't love the book, because of the choppy movement from scene to scene. I think that the author and editor designed the book this way on purpose. I wonder if they were going for a breakneck speed to cater to children with short attention spans. If so, I'd like to respectfully ask them to cut it out. What is the use of painting a richly moody world and then yanking us through it so fast that we can't fully enjoy it?
If you want to move us from one scene to the next and cut out all the boring parts, that's great, but we need some transitions and some scene setting, I think. Case in point--the girl is on the edge of the cutting fields at the end of one chapter. The next chapter opens with her waking up in a store. We have a little flashback to see how long she's been there, and we see her get kicked out the store. Then we find she's really sitting on the edge of town, or something, remembering the store, and then a lady starts talking to her and we didn't even know the lady was there. So we are left trying desperately to catch up and fill in the blanks. Why not end a scene by giving us a clue about what's coming? Why not open a scene by telling us who is there and what they are all doing?
I'm really not trying to be a smart alec here. I want to read more from this author. She is writing the kind of book I love. I love the characters and the world and the plot, but I don't want to have to work so hard at the opening of the scenes to try to catch up. And there were many short, short scenes that added to the jerkiness of the read.
At the end I was confused about how certain characters got where they were and I had a vague feeling that I didn't really understand what had happened.
RECOMMENDATION:
I hope to see more from M.E. Breen. I would love to learn more about Annie and Page and Gregor. I want to visit Howland again. I think that any kid who likes fantasy/fairytales and stories that give a little chill, will enjoy Darkwood. It really is delightfully shivery.
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Copyright © 2009 Sally Apokedak
