The Leap

Rating:
Summary: Rough Start
Review: In the first part of this book I did not really like it as it seemed rather boring. Although it gets off to a slow start it is a pretty decent book. I enjoyed the ending, but this book is probably not one of my favorites. I wouldn't reccomend it unless you have nothing better to read.

Rating:
Summary: A Deliciously Eerie, Mysterious Novel from Jonathan Stroud
Review: This is the second novel written by Jonathan Stroud, the author of the Bartimaeus books (The Amulet of Samarkand and the upcoming The Golem's Eye).

First of all, ignore what the Amazon listing tells you. This is not a "Baby-Preschool" book! This book contains some sophisticated themes and is written for the same demographic as the Bartimaeus books.

The novel tells the story of a young girl, Charlie (short for Charlotte), who witnesses the drowning death of her best friend, Max. She tries to save him, but is stopped in her rescue attempt by other-worldly forces. When Charlie tells her story, nobody believes her but think she is suffering delusions due to her recent trauma.

In the meantime, Charlie dreams of Max and is convinced that he is still alive. She vows to find him in her dreams and rescue him.

This book contains a similar narrative device to the one Stroud uses in "Amulet". The first-person narrative point-of-view switches between Charlie and her older brother James. It was confusing at first, because unlike "Amulet" there are no chapter titles telling you who's currently telling the story. However, once you figure out what's going on, it's an effective method of telling what's going on inside Charlie and James' heads.

The story is a supernatural one where Charlie travels in an alternate world in her dreams. Stroud is adept at creating suspense and immersing you in exciting action scenes when you can't take the suspense any more.

Like "Buried Fire", the ending seems a little abrupt, but it is satisfying. Maybe I just thought it was abrupt because I didn't want the story to end! What other measure of good writing can there be when the story ends and leaves you wanting more?

I highly recommend this book!