Book Review: "The Field Guide" by Holly Black

Note: Because this series has such short books in it, it is more set up like parts of a story. So I am going to review them like they are sections of one story, not a stand-alone story.

SPOIL-FREE SUMMARY

Twins Simon and Jared and their older sister Mallory are moving away from the city into an old Victorian house in the country. They have enough to go through, moving and dealing with their parents' divorce. But this new house brings more trouble, as disasters befall them right and left, and Jared is blamed.

OUR CAST OF CHARACTERS

Jared Grace is probably isn't dealing with the divorce any worse than his siblings, but getting in one fight at his old school has caused him to be blamed for things. Because of his anger issues, he often snaps at his siblings, most often at Simon.

Simon Grace has a large affection for animals, and had stuffed his apartment in the city with small animals like mice and frogs. Because of this attribute, he is less upset about moving than his brother.

Mallory Grace is the older sibling to the twins. She can be rather harsh and doesn't quite see herself as a caretaker of her younger siblings. She has no problem snapping at Jared and making him angry.

Helen Grace is the mother of the main characters. She is obviously struggling herself from the divorce, and doesn't have the patience with Jared perhaps she once did.

PACING

The pacing is decent. We are presented with the sounds in the walls in the first chapter, and in the second chapter we learn the house contains mysteries. From each chapter we either learn more or the problem escalates.

THEME

Traditionally, I don't think there is a theme, exactly, but maybe more of a genre. This first book is basically a mystery. And the book doesn't conclude until the mystery is solved.

LIKABILITY

Simon is likable because of his love of animals.

I was rather indifferent to Mallory, although her temper seemed sometimes as bad as Jared's own.

Since the story is told from Jared's perspective, I still felt sympathy for him even though he is mean and snaps at his siblings often,(even before he becames a victim). We learn how he misses home the most and got into a fight before.

CLIMAX

The climax isn't a traditional climax. Like I said, the story is short and each book is really more like a portion of one story. The book ends with the discovery of the brownie, the one who has been doing all of the damage. It's a fitting end to an introduction story.

CONCLUSION

The illustrations are beautiful. The characters are reasonably likable, except for Mallory who I felt indifferent to. The pacing is good and it sets up a good amount of mysteries to be solved later. What happened to Arthur Spiderwick? Is Lucinda really crazy? I give “The Field Guide” three and a half stars.