Review: The Journal of Curious Letters by James Dashner (2008)

The Journal of Curious Letters (The 13th Reality #1) by James Dashner
Publication: Shadow Mountain (March 3, 2008), 432 pages / ISBN 1590388313
Genre: Adventure, YA
Rating:
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I’m a sucker for books that incorporate puzzles and codes and such, so I was expecting to at least enjoy reading The Journal of Curious Letters. I did, kinda. I liked the beginning! But the second half was…not so good.

Summary from Amazon:

What if every time you made a choice that had a significant consequence, a new, alternate reality was created–the life that would’ve been had you made the other choice? What if those new realities were in danger? What if it fell to you to save all the realities? Atticus Higginbottom, a.k.a. Tick, is an average thirteen-year-old boy until the day a strange letter arrives in his mailbox. Postmarked from Alaska and cryptically signed with the initials “M.G.,” the letter informs Tick that dangerous–perhaps even deadly–events have been set in motion that could result in the destruction of reality itself. M.G. promises to send Tick twelve riddles that will reveal on a certain day, at a certain time, at a certain place, something extraordinary will happen. Will Tick have the courage to follow the twelve clues M.G. sends to him? Will he be able to solve the riddles in time? Will Tick discover the life he was meant to live? The first volume of an outstanding new children’s fantasy series, The Journal of Curious Letters is filled with adventure, humor, riddles, and, oh, yes–danger… As M.G. warns Tick, Very frightening things are coming your way. Will you join Tick and his friends on an amazing journey through the Realities? What will your choice be?

I like the first half of the book. It had some problems, but it was fun trying to figure out the riddles and getting to know the characters. There were some problems with the author trying to convince me that M.G. was funny– literally saying something like “THAT M.G. IS SO FUNNY ISN’T HE? ISN’T HE?!” Uh, yeah. He wasn’t. His jokes were horrible! And that was when I actually recognized that they were jokes; most of the time I didn’t get it until Tick laughed or something. But, besides that, the first half was pretty good. I kept reading it, after all!

Unfortunately the second half of the book was not so enjoyable. The abrupt switch from slow build-up of mystery (and riddles) to big fight/action scene plus a massive switch in scenery, plus some rather suspicious explanations for why the 13th world is “evil” (and why the villain is a villain, and why the goodies must fight her, etc) made the whole thing unsatisfying. It was jolting!

Also, it’s just my own preference, really, but I don’t like it when parents but into their kids’ adventures for more than a scene or two. I always want to see the kid grow up and evolve (or whatever) on their own– it seems more poignant having them do stuff on their own than having their parent prop them up, y’know? Also, deep parental involvement comes off a lot of times as cheesy to me, like an 80′s sitcom. It’s just a small niggle, but it niggled me nonetheless. (Maybe I’m just not a family person, and so I automatically reject anything containing that sort of thing? Am I projecting? Eh, maybe not. Kitchen-loving mom got on my nerves, too. It’s too perfect!)

So, yeah. Not exactly what I was hoping for. It’s part of a series, but I don’t think I’ll be reading any of the others; I don’t like explanation for evil to consist of “it’s evil because it isn’t good,” and the writing wasn’t really my flavor. Wow, this is a downer of a review. I think it’s time to insert a lolcat:

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Other reviews: Life of A Story Engineer | Kaleb Nation | Ticket to Anywhere