Book Review: "The King in the Window" by Adam Gopnik

SPOIL-FREE SUMMARY

When Oliver looks into a mirror with a toy crown on, he unknowingly makes himself the King of the Mirrors. Armed with a glass sword and a bubble wand, he is informed that it is his job to defeat the Master of Mirrors, who steals souls through mirrors.

OUR CAST OF CHARACTERS

Oliver is an American boy who lives in Paris with his parents. He likes it, but still misses his best friend, Charlie. At first he doesn't quite believe that he is the new king, but eventually he realizes that he must embrace it, with all of the dangers.

Charlie is Oliver's best friend. He is tech savvy and bold, quite the opposite of Oliver. He easily adapts to living in Paris on his visit and makes friends quick. Although he doesn't believe his friend at first, eventually he comes to help him.

Neige is the daughter of the woman who looks after the building that Oliver's family lives in. She is rather blunt, and often rude. But Oliver has known her for years and tolerates her attitude. She agrees to help him on his quest to defeat the Master of Mirrors.

Mrs Pearson is an older, British woman who Oliver goes to for information. His father tells him about her, and he realizes she must know a lot about the seventeenth century. She also knows about the Master of Mirrors and has a deep connection to that world.

PACING

The pacing isn't exactly fast. Oliver spends a lot of time trying to explain things, like the Way, and how time works. Charlie explains the theory of multiverses. There were sometimes when I was tempted to skim over them, as some explanations were hard to understand.

RIDDLES

When Oliver meets Nostradamus, he learns that the man is cursed to talk in riddles, even though he is a prophet. Oliver asks various questions but none of the answers seem to make sense. Gopnik does a good job of planting these seeds and allowing them to make sense in time.

THE CHOSEN ONE

The story takes the idea of the chosen one, and turns it on it's head. Oliver learns that he wasn't chosen for any real reason. His expectations are dashed. He is not special. He is not chosen. But he has the chance to be a hero now and do what's right.

FOLLOW YOUR HEART

When Mrs. Pearson meets with Oliver to give him advice on how to defeat the master of Mirrors, she asks him he plans to defeat them. This is one of the best scenes in the book. Oliver grabs from pop culture, saying that he must have been chosen, so he should use his instincts, go beyond his conscious mind, basically follow his heart and it should lead him to victory. Because his heart must be true...or something.

Mrs. Pearson goes off on him, asking him if he intends to defeat evil by not thinking. I wanted to applaud her speech. She basically explains that Oliver must work hard, think hard, and give up any notions of some easy win.

NEIGE

It is revealed early on that Oliver has a crush on Neige. I never quite got why. She was pretty but not a very likable character as she doesn't feel quite real. When she reveals how her and her mother or on two sides of a war, she sounds seriously screwed up. But we never dive into her character, so we just assume there is nothing to her. She is bossy and shows little emotion. Also she is judgmental against Americans, and calls Charlie an idiot.

The problem is, she never develops. She never learns that she is wrong about Americans, maybe too judgmental, and to express herself. I felt completely indifferent to her the entire story.

THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS

Gopnik ties his own story to a classic that most readers love, me included, “Alice in Wonderland”. I was surprised how well this was done. We've already seen the original story tried to make darker by Tim Burton, which always felt so contrived to me. And although Gopnik does reference the story, he doesn't live and die by this. In fact, we don't even learn about the connection to the mirror world and Lewis Carol until much later in the story.

EXPLICIT CONTENT

There are a few swear words.

CONCLUSION

Gopnik paints a story that is original and amusing. But the long explanations can get tedious and really slow the pace of the story, and Neige was a rather dull, unlikable character that never developed. I give “The King in the Window” three and a half stars.

What do you think? Did you read this book? Agree or disagree with me on any points? Please let me know!