DNF Review – The Wizards of Once (The Wizards of Once, Book 1) by Cressida Cowell (2/5 stars)

Reading Level: Middle Grade
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 384 pages
Publisher: Hodder Children’s Books
Release Date: September 19, 2017
ISBN-13: 978-1444936704
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Wizards of Once series
Source: Owlcrate Jr.
Rating: 2/5 stars

“This is the story of a young boy Wizard and a young girl Warrior who have been taught since birth to hate each other like poison; and the thrilling tale of what happens when their two worlds collide. Perfect for boys and girls who love fantasy adventure… Once there was Magic, and the Magic lived in the dark forests. Until the Warriors came… Xar is a Wizard boy who has no Magic, and will do anything to get it. Wish is a Warrior girl, but she owns a banned Magical Object, and she will do anything to conceal it. In this whirlwind adventure, Xar and Wish must forget their differences if they’re going to make it to the dungeons at Warrior Fort. Where something that has been sleeping for hundreds of years is stirring…”

My son got this book in an Owlcrate Jr. I had never read anything by Cowell before (although I liked the “How to Train Your Dragon” movies). I read the first 100 pages of this book and then decided to set it aside. The book is written in a very simplistic and childish style; so younger children might enjoy this book more than I did.

My 11 year old son tried to read this as well and gave it to me after one night saying “Mom, this just isn’t very good. Maybe you will like it.”

It’s an interesting book. It’s full of sketches and maps and painted out sentences. The text for the sentences themselves are altered to be big or little or differently spaced depending on what the text is supposed to represent. At first I kind of enjoyed it, but it ended up being just too much going on. All the craziness on the page just completely distracts from the already somewhat boring story.

Overall I just couldn’t stomach this one; the writing comes across as childish sounding and there is too much…stuff…going on on the pages. It might be okay for younger readers but I wouldn’t recommend for middle grade and older readers. It’s a pity because the book (binding and pages) are very high quality and beautifully done.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– Goodreads Reading Challenge
– Mount TBR Reading Challenge