Book Title: The Undrowned Child
Author: Michelle Lovric
Series: The Undrowned Child #1
Date Started: May 12th 2014
Date Completed: May 16th 2014
Genres: Adventure, Fantasy, Mystery, Historical, Romance
Rating: Five stars
Review:
I began secondary school, five years ago, reading this book. And now, as my final exams are in progress, I wanted nice reread, and this book seemed the perfect end to my secondary school career. When I began, I was scared that the book wouldn't be as amazing as I had found it years ago, but it had me captivated from the beginning. It was even more magical than I remember.
Teo has felt drawn to Venice her whole life, but when her trip starts as mysterious volume with a moving picture on the cover falls on her head, she predicts that her visit might not be what she expected. Soon after, she is overcome with terrible headaches and sent to a local hospital. But when she wakes up in the middle of the night to a grotesque moving statue she's thrown into a world full of fateful curses, ancient conflicts, slang-speaking mermaids, and discovers the secrets that have tied her to the floating city since she was born.
The writing in this story was absolutely stunning. I've always been a fan of beautiful description, so this book was always going to be a favourite of mine. However, not only the imagery was amazing: the exploration of this alternate history is a hard task for anyone creating their own world, especially one as vivid as this. But Lovric expertly navigates through her descriptions and releases parts of this magical world bit by bit through the novel so there's always something new to learn.
Another point worth mentioning is Lovric's perfect impression of the enchanting floating city itself. Venice has always been a wonderful place, but it really comes to life when Lovric paints it.
The plot of The Undrowned Child takes the basis of everyday adventure, fantasy stories and turns it into something different and darker. For a children's story, it really takes a creepy twist on history. These twists and turns occur throughout the whole book, and by the end the reader has been introduced to an entirely transformed world, from where there had first been a reasonably similar historical Venice to the one we know today.
There was more romance in the story than I remembered, yet Lovric still wrote it with a beautiful subtlety and sweetness that only really exists in stories intended for younger ages.
Something I love about the characters in this book are their ability to be both capable and intelligent, and also vulnerable and unsure at the same time. Too often in books, especially ones aimed at younger ages, characters are one-dimensional in the way that they are always sure of themselves, or always unsure. The way the people in this book slip between the two makes them far more realistic and is something I think should real bye more common in children's books.
Teodora was a perfect heroin because she embodied all the elements that the whole book is about: book loving; awe of the unknown and magical; an innocent desire to just explore and learn. She's brave, but she's scared at the same time, and she's adamant to do the right thing. She also accepts that for this to happen, she has to do things she doesn't want to do and accept things that never seemed real to her before. I also loved the ideas of the ability to see people's speech above their heads and to read other people's hearts.
Renzo was also amazing, especially because of his character development. We first see Renzo portrayed as an arrogant, somewhat posh Venetian who looks down on those not as clever as him. Yet by the end he has real feelings for Teo, and has learnt a lot about not judging people and how he doesn't need to always know everything to seem powerful. Again, I think it's an important message for a children's story.
I feel in love with this book very early on, even though the plot is a little slow to start off. It was the beautiful writing that had be immersed in the story and the world. Although the pace became slightly stuttering towards the end, for the majority of the novel the story is always growing and heading somewhere.
Although this novel is really a children's book, I think it can enchant any age. It mixes together the dark edges of old fashioned fairy tales with a completely new and magical plot, while taking the read on a massive adventure with the characters.
Image Source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7022371-the-undrowned-child
I began secondary school, five years ago, reading this book. And now, as my final exams are in progress, I wanted nice reread, and this book seemed the perfect end to my secondary school career. When I began, I was scared that the book wouldn't be as amazing as I had found it years ago, but it had me captivated from the beginning. It was even more magical than I remember.
Teo has felt drawn to Venice her whole life, but when her trip starts as mysterious volume with a moving picture on the cover falls on her head, she predicts that her visit might not be what she expected. Soon after, she is overcome with terrible headaches and sent to a local hospital. But when she wakes up in the middle of the night to a grotesque moving statue she's thrown into a world full of fateful curses, ancient conflicts, slang-speaking mermaids, and discovers the secrets that have tied her to the floating city since she was born.
The writing in this story was absolutely stunning. I've always been a fan of beautiful description, so this book was always going to be a favourite of mine. However, not only the imagery was amazing: the exploration of this alternate history is a hard task for anyone creating their own world, especially one as vivid as this. But Lovric expertly navigates through her descriptions and releases parts of this magical world bit by bit through the novel so there's always something new to learn.
Another point worth mentioning is Lovric's perfect impression of the enchanting floating city itself. Venice has always been a wonderful place, but it really comes to life when Lovric paints it.
The plot of The Undrowned Child takes the basis of everyday adventure, fantasy stories and turns it into something different and darker. For a children's story, it really takes a creepy twist on history. These twists and turns occur throughout the whole book, and by the end the reader has been introduced to an entirely transformed world, from where there had first been a reasonably similar historical Venice to the one we know today.
There was more romance in the story than I remembered, yet Lovric still wrote it with a beautiful subtlety and sweetness that only really exists in stories intended for younger ages.
Something I love about the characters in this book are their ability to be both capable and intelligent, and also vulnerable and unsure at the same time. Too often in books, especially ones aimed at younger ages, characters are one-dimensional in the way that they are always sure of themselves, or always unsure. The way the people in this book slip between the two makes them far more realistic and is something I think should real bye more common in children's books.
Teodora was a perfect heroin because she embodied all the elements that the whole book is about: book loving; awe of the unknown and magical; an innocent desire to just explore and learn. She's brave, but she's scared at the same time, and she's adamant to do the right thing. She also accepts that for this to happen, she has to do things she doesn't want to do and accept things that never seemed real to her before. I also loved the ideas of the ability to see people's speech above their heads and to read other people's hearts.
Renzo was also amazing, especially because of his character development. We first see Renzo portrayed as an arrogant, somewhat posh Venetian who looks down on those not as clever as him. Yet by the end he has real feelings for Teo, and has learnt a lot about not judging people and how he doesn't need to always know everything to seem powerful. Again, I think it's an important message for a children's story.
I feel in love with this book very early on, even though the plot is a little slow to start off. It was the beautiful writing that had be immersed in the story and the world. Although the pace became slightly stuttering towards the end, for the majority of the novel the story is always growing and heading somewhere.
Although this novel is really a children's book, I think it can enchant any age. It mixes together the dark edges of old fashioned fairy tales with a completely new and magical plot, while taking the read on a massive adventure with the characters.
Image Source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7022371-the-undrowned-child
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