Abarat - Clive Barker Book Review

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"Abarat"
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Review Summaries

"Candy Quackenbush is a girl looking to escape from her boring town, boring life, dysfunctional family, and the world she knows. One day when she walks out of school after receiving a particularly unnecessary reprimand from her teacher, she stumbles upon the Abarat, a vast archipelago with an island representing each hour of the day, plus the twenty-fifth hour, the time out of time. Candy senses that she has been there before, but she does not know when or how. Along her journey through the Abarat, evading Christopher Carrion, the Lord of Midnight, and his henchmen, Candy makes friends and sees all sorts of strange things. A man with seven extra heads growing on his antlers, who claim to be his brothers, a giant moth, lifelike mechanical bugs, and many other things. the story also follows the main antagonist, the Lord of Midnight himself, and his feelings are just as developed as Candy's. "
Clara, Resident Clive Barker Scholar

"Candy Quackenbush is a 16 year old girl living in the most boring town in the world: Chickentown, Minnesota, USA. She walks all the way to the end of Chickentown and out into the prairie beyond. There she stumbles upon a man with seven extra heads growing on his antlers who helps her to find the Abarat: a vast collection of 25 islands, where each represents a different hour of the day, and the time out of time, the 25th hour. There Candy meets friends, makes enemies, and explores the islands (willingly, and unwillingly), but most of all, there is a sense that she has been there before. "
Sabriel, Resident Clive Barker Scholar

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Overall Review

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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
Descript. of chases or violence - 30%
planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 10%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30%
Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 30%

Tone of book - very upbeat
FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION? - fantasy world/fantasy past
Coming of age Yes
Youngster becomes - an adult (general)
Explore/1st contact/ enviro story Yes
Plotlets: - exploring a wondrous planet or phenomena
Is this an adult or child's book? - Kid's book (ages 7-14)

Main Character
Identity: - Female
Profession/status: - student
Age: - a teen
Has magical/special powers? Yes
Magical/mental powers of main character: - can cast many different spells
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events? Yes
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Strong but gentle sense of humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - average physique

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - long-lived adults
Profession/status: - dictator
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a little/some - an average amount
How sensitive is this character? - hard edged - middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters - Very much smarter than other characters
Physique - average physique - physically sick

Setting
Terrain - Water - Mountains - Forests
Earth setting: - current (early 21st century)
A substantial portion of this book takes place on a non-Earth planetary body: - humans in a primitive/fantasy society
Takes place on Earth? Yes
Planet outside solar system? Yes

Style
Person? - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - explicit references to torture
How much dialogue? - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog

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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).

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