James Bow is a young author to watch and to read. This is first novel and we certainly hope it’s not his last. As he says, some stories have happy endings and some don’t; it’s worth reading The Unwritten Girl to find out which one it has.
Xmas is coming and you can buy the book online at Amazon. A good gift for brats 10-12 who have an insatiable appetite for fantasy fiction wrapped in a thick, juicy slab of precious Victorian-styled sentimentality. Stick it in their stockings and get them to shut up for a few hours.
the best sign that a book is good is when upon finishing you immediately want to know more, what happens next? What痴 the next adventure?
Well the good news is that the sequel is due out in spring next year, for now though I値l have to make do with rereading this one.
The Unwritten Girl … is a quirky, literary story, a blended mixture of fantasy and realism. … It could easily be read by teens or adults who enjoy a fantasy with clever twists. Indeed, adults might best appreciate some of the clever literary references and subtle irony used by the author.
Bow takes us on a delightful, nostalgic trip with The Unwritten Girl; however, what is more important is how young adults will respond to this book. Despite its fantasy/fairy tale setting, The Unwritten Girl addresses some fairly serious issues; mental illness, being an outsider, the death of parents and bullying. In many ways, this is a fairly dark book and Bow deftly handles these significant topics without resorting to clich駸 or becoming preachy.
Bow writes well and the story has the ingredients of good children’s literature: it has a moral, but the moral is integral to the story and doesn’t get in the way of what is likely to prove a satisfying adventure for the young reader. I understand that this is James Bow’s first published fiction as a professional; I’m sure it won’t be his last.
This book was one of the best books I have ever read. The descriptions were amazing. I have never read a book like this. Not even one with the same concept or idea. The Unwritten Girl is a book I would gladly read over and over again. I really hope that there will be a sequel to this book very soon.
Bow’s greatest strengths are his concept and the fluidity of the novel. It is a solid first work by a promising writer. The Unwritten Girl is an engaging and entertaining novel that will bring a smile to the reader’s face and perhaps send the reader to the library looking for old favourites.
The book is by turns adventurous, spooky and laugh-out-loud funny. I love the sense of fun James brings to this story…
…Rosemary and Peter race to save Rosemary’s brother before an unseen enemy exacts a terrible revenge. They are about to learn there is a consequence for every action, even if that action is leaving a book unfinished.
The climax of the story (two climaxes, actually) is terrific, and the resolution satisfying. It’s not hard to imagine that some young readers might fall in love with this book and want to read it again and again. So if you have a fantasy-loving child on your Christmas list, you might want to consider buying them a copy of The Unwritten Girl.
Delightfully, Bow has drawn from numerous sources throughout literature to create the Land of Fiction through which Rosemary, Peter, and Puck venture. It is great fun to see how many of the books are recognizable via their partial incarnation within the Land of Fiction. I am acquainted with Bow via a listserve that reads and discusses the work of my favorite author, Madeleine L脱ngle. Bow痴 own love for Miss Madeleine shines forth on every page of The Unwritten Girl.
Do not think for a moment, however, that this is a derivative story. It is original, funny, and Bow takes punning to new levels of groaning.
“I loved the book. It reminded me, in a way of the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde, in that it was set in the world of fiction and presents literary characters as living people…. …If I was an English teacher, I would use this book to teach my students the parts of plot.”
“Pacing is James’ forte: a condensed page count (less than 200 pages) doesn’t allow for an awful lot of exposition or character development, but he’s generally managed to make every one of those pages count. His management of words and structure can be note perfect: the first encounter between Rosemary and Puck could have been an unholy mess in less assured hands, but James has a real skill for keeping on top of dialogue and beats and it comes off very well. The second quarter of the book, recounting Rosemary’s first few encounters in the Land of Fiction, at first seems awkward, but as you keep reading you realize that he’s just set up perfectly for the moment, which happens almost literally at the half-way mark of the book, when everything clicks into place - from there on out, the book becomes a darker, more intruiging and satisfying read. (There’s one scene in particular, when the characters first come upon the city that figuratively lies at the heart of the story, that is an absolute show-stopper. Just read it.)”
“Because of how much stuff I’ve got going on, I had thought I would just read a chapter or two so I could say something about the story here, then read the rest once I got caught up with everything.
“But one chapter led to another, and I didn’t stop until I had read the whole thing (and once you’ve read the book, you’ll understand why that’s kind of ironic!).”
Website copyright James Bow 2005; The Unwritten Girl copyright The Dundurn Group 2006. Website design by Clarksbury.com.