Wildwood

I feel compelled to write a review, because this book didn't seem *bad* per se, just in desperate need of an editor.

The book started out strong. The writing is clever, the premise, setting and world-building are intriguing. Prue is no cookie-cutter female main character-- she's reckless,

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irreverent, brave and even, at times, ruthless.

But this book has big problems. Despite Meloy's creativity, clichés and stereotypes reign supreme. Curtis and his interaction with the (very obviously evil) queen bear a striking resemblence to Edmund from C. S. Lewis' books, including the element of being really annoying to read about. Furthermore, the dual perspective just served to make the story tedious and wrung every possibility of surprise out of the plot.

I have a few other gripes with this book, chief among them being the use of the "friendly stalker" trope, ie a male character ignores the clearly, forcefully stated boundaries of a female character, but then later the male and female characters become best buddies (and/or romantically involved). You might argue that this is realistic because the prevelence of this trope in books and movies has taught otherwise nice boys that it's okay to follow a girl even if she attempts to get rid of you by throwing rocks at you (after asking nicely several times), but that makes it no less irritating to read about.

If you do read this book I recommend skipping all sections written from Curtis' perspective. It will preserve a little of the excitment and mystery of the story, and Prue's storyline is much more interesting anyway.

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his is a hefty book at 560 pages and although there are some illustrations, it's still very long. Luckily it was a fast read and each time I sat down to read it I had to pull myself away. I ended up spreading this one out over a period of a few days and read books in between, but it wasn't because

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I was bored, I'm just too impatient with such large books and this way I was able to relax and enjoy it more.

I thought it was a great idea for a book and thought the author was quite creative in the world he made. I was able to imagine it all well (though there are beautiful illustrations to help with that ;) and could see every step that the characters took. It helps that it takes place here (where I live), so the woods were quite easy for me to imagine. I also enjoyed the characters and felt a connection with them even though I think that it might be a bit hard for a younger reader to follow some of it. The story is told in third person but switches between Prue and Curtis who are actually separated early in the story so they are basically on two different adventures though they are both searching for Prues kidnapped baby brother. I think that it may be difficult to remember that Prue doesn't know what Curtis knows and Curtis doesn't know what Prue knows and therefore it's a bit easy to get confused. Or maybe confused isn't exactly the write word, but it's just different... and hard to explain without spoilers. I think older middle grade readers and up or those that read a lot already would enjoy it more then those that rarely read. It is a very long book as well, so reluctant readers may not enjoy it as much for that reason.

I thought it was a fun adventure with plenty of action and is a book that boys and girls alike would enjoy. It might be a fun read along for a family as well, reading a bit each evening. Those that enjoy fantasy with talking animals, fun adventure and lots of action would enjoy this book. As an adult who reads just a little MG fantasy I found myself immersed in the story and feeling a connection with the characters and the plot as well. There were a few moments when I wanted to shout at the book to 'get a move on' but that's to be expected with any book this long. Overall it was highly enjoyable and I recommend it.

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Summary: On an otherwise normal day at the park, a murder of crows swoop down and kidnap Prue McKeel's infant brother, and carry him off into the Impassible Wilderness - an unexplored region of forest on the border of Portland. She's determined to rescue him, so she heads into the forest to rescue

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him, accompanied by Curtis, a kid from school who sees her leaving and decides to tag along. Immediately upon entering the forest, they're separated and Curtis is captured by a group of coyote soldiers. Now Prue has two people to rescue, and to do so, she's going to have to find allies amongst the various people and animals that live in the forest... but they're up against a madwoman with a plan that has the potential to destroy Wildwood forever.

Review: I wanted to like this book more than I did; I should have liked it more than I did. I should have found the fantasy elements fun and the adventure exciting and the quirky sense of humor charming... and I did, it was all of those things, but in the final analysis I just didn't find it fun or exciting or charming enough. It does have a similar vibe to The Phantom Tollbooth, which was one of my favorite books when I was growing up, but while they're similar, I feel like Wildwood takes twice the space to accomplish not quite as much.

Part of it was that there was just so much - it's a fat book, with lots of story elements, and a penchant for wordy description that I don't normally associate with mid-grade books. It's not that I think kids can't handle long books, or big words, and goodness knows I'm a fan of vocabulary. But in any writing, regardless of age level, I like the language to be precise. Long words are great for conveying specific meanings when simpler words can't convey the same nuance. Long words for the sake of long words, however, just clutter things up, especially when the shades of meaning they convey are actually not at all what the sentence calls for. I often felt like I had to fight through all the words to get at the interesting and engaging part of the story.

And as for the story... I appreciate that the main plot was an original twist on the standard fantasy tropes. There were a lot of story elements that I liked, and would have been interested to hear more about. But again, there was just so much going on that it seemed like the pieces I found most interesting weren't developed as well as I wanted them to be. There's a lot on the surface, but I didn't feel like there was a whole lot of depth.

(Also, this book had the most egregious examples of one of my YA-lit pet peeves - the absentee parents - that I've ever seen. I get that to have an adventure story with a kid protagonist, the parents can't be hovering around, but if any parents in real life behaved like Prue's parents, they'd be arrested for criminal negligence before they could say "Sure, we trust our eleven-year-old so much as a caretaker that we're not even going to bother looking at our infant child in person today." And that's just at the beginning; it gets worse from there, and it bugged.)

I started out listening to the audiobook of Wildwood, but that lasted less than a disc's worth. It's narrated by Amanda Plummer - i.e. Honey Bunny from the beginning of Pulp Fiction - and while I have no problem with her as an actress, I just couldn't deal with her voice for another 15 hours of story. Plus, switching to paper meant that I got the benefit of Carson Ellis's charming illustrations and maps. I only wish that my problems with getting into the story itself had been solved by the switch as well. 3 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: If you like mid-grade fantasy adventure stories, it's worth giving Wildwood a shot; the fact that I couldn't get into it may be entirely idiosyncratic. (Or worth putting it into the hands of your favorite eleven-year-old that likes fantasy adventures; I can easily see kids of both sexes eating this up.)

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A lovely book. I love that it is written to challenge young readers. Abstract ideas, corrupt governments, power struggles and family problems all taking place in a beautiful fantasy world. It's something that kids cannot only relate to, but learn from. Loved it.

I started reading this book, becoming engaged, until I came to the talking animals. Oh the talking animals. Even as a kid I had little patience for talking animals. There is a lot to like about this book- the two main characters are likable,overall the book is warmly realized with amazing detail.

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There was a lot that irritated me- the aforementioned talking animals, the slightly hipster wordiness, the length- it probably could have benefited from some editing. Overall it felt like it was written by a very talented creative writing student. The drawings are exquisite- they are the the best part of the book for me. I'm not sure if kids- the intended audience- have been as interested as the adults who have come into the library- the author is in a very popular local band.

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Hard to imagine this book is for kids.

An epic tale of Prue, the twelve year old girl from St. Johns whose brother has been flown away by a murder of crows. Prue follows them into the forbidden forest across the river known as Wildwood. The mysterious forest unveils a wide array of anthropomorphic animals, political intrigue and

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oppression, war and redemption of character.

This is a great book as a choice for strong 4th grade readers and up. It could work as an ongoing read aloud or as a book for some sort of book report. It poses many questions about the use of force in conflict, loyalty and perseverance. A great book for discussion with fellow readers.

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For the most part, I enjoyed this story of the "Impassible Wilderness," a fantasy world on the outskirts of Portland, Oregon. When Prue's baby brother is stolen by a murder of crows, Prue sets off after him into the wilderness, followed by Curtis, a boy from school. There follows a tale of

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political intrigue, adventure, and loyalty.

At several points the story lagged, and I found myself becoming frustrated or impatient. The middle part of the book is told in alternating sections about Curtis and about Prue. This device can build suspense, but it only works when both characters' adventures are equally interesting. One of the stories lagged while the other continued at a steady pace, and I found myself becoming frustrated with the author for insisting on writing more than was necessary on one story in order to keep the two stories the same length.

I also was disappointed in the character of the Governess. When she first appears she's an evil and powerful figure luring a young boy away with tasty treats. Sound familiar? Sigh. Despite the apparent similarity, though, she can't hold a candle to Jadis, and ultimately she was a rather unsatisfying character.

I was sorry I didn't like it more. This was potentially a 5 star story, but it was considerably longer than it needed to be for the actual content, and the author didn't do nearly as much as could have been done with some of the plot elements. It appears he's holding back some of the story's potential for a sequel, but if the story doesn't speed up he'll lose readers before he gets there.

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A story about a girl who goes into the forbidden forest, Wildwood, to rescue her baby brother who is kidnapped by a murder of crows. Along the way, a classmate follows her and joins her in her quest to find her brother. There are a lot of talking animals and unnecessary scenes. It was long.

It was an OK read. Not particularly engrossing and far to political and advanced for being a junior fiction novel. The idea of the novel, having a secret magical land hidden inside the local forest, is fantastic and I expected a lot more than what I got out of it. The characters didn't blow me away

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and the plot felt a bit thin. I felt like there was too much talk of politics and not enough actual story to keep me wanting to read more.

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In this massive chunk of a book, seventh-grader Prue is astonished and frightened when her baby brother Mac is kidnapped by a murder of crows, who take him into the heart of the "Impassible Wilderness." When she heads into the wilderness to rescue Mac, one of her classmates, Curtis, follows.

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Adventures ensue.

The book owes a considerable debt to Narnia, with its talking animals, White Witch-like figure, and a Stone Table -- er, Plinth -- as a place of ritual. Perhaps that's why I found it slightly stale; what may have been meant as homage came off as repetition. I also never really connected with the main characters, and the secondary characters were generally very flat. I might have pardoned much of this if the book had been shorter, but the length of the book was problematic for me, too. J.K. Rowling, you know I love you. I don't begrudge the Harry Potter books their length (well, maybe a few pages of the Endless Camping in Deathly Hallows), but you opened the door for authors of juvenile fantasy to inflict mercilessly long books upon the reading public.

I don't see myself reading additional books in this series. One redeeming factor: though there were a few hints of things that might crop up in upcoming books, the loose ends were generally tied off neatly (sometimes a bit too neatly, but I'm trying to avoid blatant spoilers, so that's all I'll say about that). If you're looking for a recently published middle-grade book with fantasy in a woodland setting, let me recommend instead Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu, one of my favorite books from last year.

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This is a book about Prue, a girl from Portland, OR, who finds herself on an adventure into Wildwood when her little brother is kidnapped by a flock of Crows.

Pages: 541
Release Date: August 30th, 2011
Date Read: 2011, September 21st-28th
Received: Own
Rating: 3/5 stars
Recommended to: 11+

Summary -
The day Mac was kidnapped started out as a good, normal day. But when the murder of crows descended and Prue watched as they lifted her baby brother off the ground,

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her day went from good to bad. And then from bad to worse when they disappeared into the Impassable Wilderness, a place where no one ever goes. Prue can't possible tell her parents what has happened - she can't quite believe it herself! - so she knows immediately that she must venture into the Impassable Wilderness to find her brother, never suspecting what new friends and ugly terrors might lay in those woods.

My thoughts -
As Colin Meloy is a favorite singer/songwriter of mine, I was naturally ecstatic when I discovered he was coming out with a book. Colin's stories in his songs have never been anything but fantastical, and I've always wanted him to write a book. I got my wish - but things didn't end up quite as 5-star-he's-a-genius as I'd hoped.

For the record, I enjoyed myself. There were many scenes that had me riveted and were quite original and/or funny. However...

For one, the descriptions were lengthy. Too lengthy, in my opinion. At first they were beautiful and everything was perfect; but then he just kept going with them, a lot about plants and trees, and I'm thinking, "It's the Impassable Wilderness. There are tons of plants. Plants everywhere. And there are pictures, too, that show tons of greenery. So, does he really need to keep describing?"

So the beginning was great. The middle was slow. All the plant details and lots of getting from on place to another. More details. Then, the end. It was a fun end, well-crafted, and had a great battle. A few secrets were let out and it was all a great hurrah! (Well, besides that lame end to Curtis's story. I hope he's in the second one to make up for that?)

Character notes -
Prue and Curtis were, seriously, great characters. I loved them, and found that I connected with them. I noticed a small glitch in Prue (she started out as an indifferent teenager and suddenly became a grateful and super loving and protective older sister), but I could only enjoy her company throughout the novel. She was quite a catch and very willing to do the right thing, as was Curtis.

While Meloy's descriptions sometimes got out of hand, they were never more enjoyable than when he was describing characters. The humans, the land animals, the birds... It wasn't hard to picture them at all, with all their differences and strange clothes and/or funny character handles.

Story notes -
This story is bizarre, with a fascinating air of originality and a dark undertone. It had the feel I'd wanted, but was a bit slower than I'd hoped. I very mournfully contemplated giving it a break about twice. (I'd have picked it up again later...) But I'm glad i finished it all the way through. It could have been cut down at least fifty pages, and I wish the battle scenes had been more personal, instead of a lot of general action, but it was so fun nonetheless.

In many ways it reminded me of the Chronicles of Narnia, what with the talking animals, one character being deceived by a witch, and a magic forest, but it was also very much it's own story. I was able to appreciate it, even when I was disappointed that I didn't fall madly in love.

Summing it up -
Descriptive - great, good, and bad. I definitely enjoyed myself and would like to read Meloy's next book in the Wildwood trilogy - although this time I probably won't spend $17.00 on it; I'll go buy his CD's instead.

For the parents -
Violence and excessive drinking among the coyotes. Parents may want to take a look at the violence for themselves, because not every 11-year-old likes scary witches. 11+

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When Prue’s little brother, Mac, gets stolen by crows, she follows them in an attempt to get them back and finds herself at the border of the Impassable Wilderness. After returning home to get supplies, she and Curtis, a boy from school who runs into her along the way and decides to go with her,

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find themselves in a parallel world filled with talking animals, an exiled Dowager Governess, and a world torn apart by war. Shortly after arriving, Curtis is captured by Coyotes and Prue is forced to find help and fend for herself. When she meets the current Governor-Regent, he reluctantly agrees to help her find her brother. His attaché’s actions, however, don’t seem to match that of someone trying to help her. Told through alternating points of view of Curtis and Prue, the lines of right and wrong appear blurred and trust seems impossible. Will Prue and Curtis be able to save Mac and make it back home?

WILDWOOD is a fun-filled adventure for fantasy fans. The characters are well-developed. The plot is a little confusing, but fast-paced, complex, and engrossing. Readers who like animals, war, action, and parallel worlds will enjoy reading this book.

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Actually a 2.5 if half-stars existed. Rounding up to a three because the book got off to SUCH a strong start, and Meloy's eloquent language has to count for something. The book reminded me of a velvet dress that could have been gorgeous if it had been more simply cut, but that kept getting added to

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and added to beyond the point of beauty, and then got caught in a downpour and became watterlogged. It just kept going on and on and ON. This Decemberist-turned-author has obvious talent, but hopefully his editor will discourage him from going off on quite so many tangents in future books.

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I was very excited to find this book, first because I love the illustrations and second because the authors are from Portland where I used to live. And to top that off, one of the authors is in the band the Decemberists. Ok, so I've never heard them but, cool! I was not disappointed. It's a really

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fun read. A little bit derivative of CS Lewis. But hey! It's about time somebody tried to write books as good as the Narnia Chronicles. The characters are great. The world building, awesome. Best of all is the illustrations--full color illustrations with those old timey captions as well as black and white illustrations. So gorgeous, I could look at them for hours. And it's very entertaining to read about Portland landmarks like Pittock Mansion and Sauvie Island and St Johns Wood mixed in with the fantasy land. There were a few things I didn't find super believable (the parent's behavior mostly--the fantasy world, totally believable to me.) But overall I greatly enjoyed this. I also enjoyed the fact that these are obviously super progressive "crunchy" authors. There's a little political allegory, meditation, and bicycle riding thrown in. Very Portland!

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Promising first work. Mr. Melot should have been sent back to the editing table at least one more time. And someone should have taken away his thesaurus. It is one thing to use a challenging vocabulary and quite another to use the words correctly.

The thing that will draw you into this enormous book are Carson Ellis's gorgeous illustrations. However, if you like sprawling fantasy books like Lord of the Rings, the story will keep you reading.

Prue McKeel is an ordinary kid living in Portland. She rides her bike, does her homework, and watches

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after her little brother Mac. Then one day, out of nowhere, a murder of crows swoops down and kidnaps Mac, carrying him off to the vast stretch of forest known to Portlanders as The Impassable Wilderness. Determined to get Mac back, Prue and her friend Curtis venture into the forest, and find a world of magic, talking animals, and betrayal known as Wildwood. There, they get caught up in a struggle for power that threatens every living thing there.

Meloy crafts the fantasy element out of his talking animals and flashes of magic, but he grounds the basic narrative in bureaucratic parody. There are ineffective governors, lazy diplomats, and silly laws that shrewd readers will recognize as a gentle satire. What the story lacks is a basic point to all of this rigmarole. Perhaps its because this is first part in a trilogy, but I kept waiting to find out what the theme was, what I could learn from the characters. This is not the first time someone has mocked the adult world in a fantasy way (Phantom Toolbooth, anyone?), but Meloy does not entirely successfully explain how the Impassable Wilderness came to be the way it is by the time Prue and Curtis get there.

This is definitely a book for your more advanced readers. There are some scenes of violent battles, but nothing too gory. This novel is long, full of conspiracy plots and twists, and SAT words galore. Honestly, it probably could have been 200 pages shorter, but kids who get drawn into the story won't care. Prue is an engaging character (if you can stand how much of a hipster she is), as are some of the inhabitants of Wildwood. With some additional series, this may be a solid entry into the fantasy canon.

For ages 10 and up.

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Pru's life was fairly normal until the day her baby brother Mac was kidnapped by a murder of crows and taken into the impassable Wilderness. Now she is going to go where no one ever goes with tag-along classmate Curtis as support. But even more unexpected for them are the factions of talking

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animals, political movements and so on in the three countries nestled within what has always been supposed to be an empty forest. Swept up by the current events, Pru just hopes she'll find Mac before anything else can happen.

Here is my broken record: I pick things up and I put them down. But then, later on, as though it was all a clever ruse, I buy them anyway. I know you know that I do it, because it comes up regularly. So does the notion of me buying a book

It's hard to explain, now, weeks and books after I finished it, quite what was so enjoyable about it. Yes, I know I need to be writing these immediately, but reading is quite often easier than writing is for time and thought's sake. Lame? I know that, too.

But both Pru and Curtis are believable and interesting characters to follow as they are pulled into the chaos of the wilderness. Meloy keeps the book from getting fluffy but also from being too political. He throws in a lot of the old darkness, in a way the realistic darkness, into the works--the battles, and there are a few, are not gruesome but not injury-free fluff. There is death, there is violence, there are gross points that lend some weight to the text. It's not just a cutesy little story with a pair of kids scampering about the forest with the help of bunnies and robins. This is an engaging story, well-written and thorough in its carriage and explanations. It is not off-putting to me that this is the beginning of a new series--although I do hope it is a short one. Also, even though there are lead-ins to the next book, I would be contented to see it remain alone.

Well, mostly content because I read so many other things. Were I to reread Wildwood, I am sure that I would impatiently tap my foot at not having another story to follow it up.

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This was a delightful book that I read straight through in several hours. All the elements are familiar but the author, Decemberists singer and songwriter Colin Meloy, puts them together in an appealing way. There are also lovely illustrations by Carson Ellis – some black and white cutouts,

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others that are detailed shaded drawings, and several beautiful color plates. While I had a few criticisms, I would happily read the next books in the planned series.

Prue McKeel is an ordinary 7th grader who lives with her parents and baby brother Mac in Portland. While babysitting Mac one day, Prue is horrified to see a murder of crows fly off with him into the Impassable Wilderness, a forest that is shunned by children and that Prue’s parents awkwardly avoid mentioning. Prue goes to rescue him and is joined by her classmate, nerdy social misfit Curtis. They are soon separated and in parallel narratives both navigate the treacherous woods which are inhabited by useless bureaucrats, independent birds, a vicious coyote army, a group of rebellious bandits and mellow tree-loving mystics. Prue and Curtis try to reunite and find Mac but they can’t avoid getting drawn into a civil war. The plot moves along quickly. There’s always some little question to be answered or a mystery to clear up though the middle section sags a bit. Prue has a lot more to do than Curtis until the last third of the book. Also, in the first 2/3 there was a dearth of female characters – pretty much Prue, the heroine, and the main antagonist, the beautiful but evil Alexandra.

I found the plot absorbing and enjoyed reading about the characters. One thing that sets this book apart is all the local color – Portland being recognized for its liberal, bookish, green-local-organic concerned population. Prue is a vegetarian who eats granola and gorp and rides her bike everywhere (the bike plays an important role at points). Superhero-obsessed, Kurosawa-watching, socially awkward nerds like Curtis are at home in the Pacific Northwest. I looked for parallels between Portland and the countries of the Impassable Wilderness – bustling metropolis South Wood, the breakaway Avian Principality, the untamed Wildwood and the easygoing North Wood. The busy South Wood is framed by a riot of trees, like the perennially green Portland. The mystics of North Wood could be your average nature-loving pagan/Wiccan/spiritual-but-not-religious hippies, just with extra powers (at one point Alexandra insults one by calling her godless – but who’s her god??) while the bandits are the more militant, anarcho-libertarian type with a bit of socialist rhetoric thrown in (plus they could be on a neverending camping trip). No one needs to get in touch with nature here – animals live side by side with people, trees are houses or touchstones or a way to be evil. There were other nice things also – the importance of bridges in the plot reflects the city’s separation by a river, the sought-after poppy beer made me think of Portland’s microbreweries.

I enjoyed Wildwood but I could see if others found it derivative. My mind kept going to other books or movies that had similar characters, plot points or tropes and I’m not that well-read in current middle grade fantasy. Some of the characterizations seemed a bit easy – while the South Wood politicians and Alexandra were two-faced, the generous birds, principled thieves and easygoing North Wood inhabitants were mainly just good, with some having individual quirks. The prose was funny and readable except for Alexandra’s dialogue - she had a seemingly limitless supply of evil villain clichéd phrases at hand. Also I thought the satire of inefficient corrupt bureaucrats has been done better elsewhere (though maybe hasn’t been covered as much in children’s literature). But all the issues didn’t really distract from my enjoyment of the book and I didn’t feel irritated when I’d finished it as occasionally happens when I read a book quickly for plot. The book is long so Meloy has enough time to get in the weirdness, the humor, the views of places and people. The book wrapped up nicely but there was enough left open for sequels.

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when this book came into the store, I knew it was a must-read. Colin Meloy is one of my favorite storytellers (via song), so I knew that any tale he wove on page would be just as beautiful. I am six chapter in, and I am loving the adventure. it really feels like a modern-day Chronicles of Narnia.

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I’ve seen Wildwood questioned as a kid’s fiction book - ‘Meloy uses his thesaurus too heavily’ was one particular criticism I’ve read online. I think it’s fantastic. more children should be reading challenging and engaging stories like Wildwood. if some of the words cause them to pick up a dictionary (who am I fooling? visit dictionary.com), then that’s a good thing. let’s not forget a bibliophile’s criticism that the digital age (is that what they’re still calling it) has severely hampered the young generation’s vocabulary. Meloy gives us a space to revel in it and our own imagination at the same time.

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Prue is a smart, unique girl from Portland who often takes her baby brother Mac around town and to the park with her. One day, her brother gets kidnapped by crows, and Prue chases them down into the Impassable Forrest, a place where no one is supposed to go. Her classmate Curtis follows her there,

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but they get separated after being found by talking coyotes. Curtis gets captured by the coyotes and taken to Alexandria, a former ruler and the one who is in charge of the dogs. Prue escapes capture, and finds help from a mailman who cannot believe how she was able to get into Wildwood. There is woods magic that only allows those who are from Wildwood to enter inside. Prue, determined to find her brother gets help from talking birds and other citizens of the different colonies within Wildwood. Curtis discovers that Alexandria has Mac, and he no longer wants to be a part of her army, which he had become a captain of. Angry, Alexandria throws him in prison where he meets the “Bandits”, a group of Robin Hood style criminals. He becomes a member of this group, and they escape and plan to fight Alexandria’s colony. By this time, Prue has found out that her parents who were infertile for a long time, promised Alexandria their second born child in exchange for helping them become pregnant, which they soon were with Prue. Prue’s army meets up with Curtis’s army and they all fight against coyotes and Alexandria. They are triumphant and Prue gets her baby brother back.

I think one of the best themes from this book was the theme of being true to yourself. Curtis was offered the opportunity to be the captain of an army and the second in command of a colony, but he turned it all down to save Prue’s brother. He understood right from wrong, and found a place where he could be true to himself with the Bandits.

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This book is like reading a Decemberists song and I mean that in the best possible way. A wild adventure of talking animals, woodland bandits, and an evil Dowager Governess hell bent on destroying everyone in her path, it is a classic in the making. A great read for kids of all ages.

Amazing Book!
a bit slow at the beginning, but when the action starts,it is almost impossible to put down!