I thought I liked children's books but...

Apparently not as much as I thought I did!

Fight for Freedom by Simon Scarrow
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

For a historical novel, it's ok. As a kid's book, it's ok. Nothing very spectacular or particularly intriguing.
I picked it up mainly because it was cheap and because I'd already read half of it at a bookstore previously while waiting for someone so I wanted to know how it would end. I'll probably not be picking up the sequel though. It seems rather predictable.
Also, if the teaser at the end of the book is any indication, the author decides to mangle his story by changing the name of the girl that Marcus saves and her relationship to Julius Caesar.


The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I'd recently watched Oz the Great and Powerful and saw this sitting in my bookshelf so I decided to get round to reading it.

It's amazing that one simple, children's book has spawned so many movies (from different versions of the same show, to spin offs, prequels, sequels?), musicals and books. I suppose it's because whilst Frank Baum has created a wonderful land that's exciting and enticing, he hasn't included that much back story (at least in this book), which actually lends itself to other writers expanding on it as a much loved story.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a good read, really, but not quite what I was expecting it to be from all the "fanfare" around it. It's simplistic in its nature (which is what a kid's book should be), and lovely writing, but not nothing terribly exciting or wonderful about it. I suppose if I'd read it at a younger age, I would have liked it much better.

View all my reviews