Abarat

Hello blogosphere! Well today is officially the last blog I will be doing for a while because I am (finally) going on vacation! San Francisco here I come! Well anyways, I just finished the book Abarat by Clive Barker and I thought reviewing it would be good as long as it is fresh in my mind.

Characters: Candy Quackenbush: girl from Chickentown/travels via the Sea of Izabella to Abarat/is one of the first people to come to Abarat from the Hereafter in many years
John Mischief: is aided by Candy to escape from Mendelson Shape/has giant antlers where the heads of his eight brothers live/is a renowned thief
Christopher Carrion: Lord of Midnight/obsessed with finding Candy/has a glass helmet filled with nightmares that surround his face
Malingo: rescued from slavery by Candy/has some skill with magic/aides Candy in escaping Otto Houlihan
Otto Houlihan: aka Criss-Cross Man/Christopher Carrion's number one henchman/inspires fear into all who see him

The Plot: Candy Quackenbush is afraid her life isn't going anywhere. She lives in Chickentown, a slaughterhouse based community, she is hated by her teacher, who kicks her out of class as much as possible, and her father is a washed-up drunk who frequently hits her and her brothers. In short, Candy wants out. Badly. And one day, Candy gets her chance. After getting kicked out of class by Miss Schwartz (again), Candy walks to the edge of Chickentown in order to escape her mundane exsistance. However, just as she is about to turn around and go home to her normal life, John Mischief appears begging for her help escaping Mendelson Shape. Mischief and Shape aren't human; Mischief has antlers and Shape has swords fused to his body. In the process of helping Mischief escape, Candy gets swept to his magical homeland, Abarat. However, as soon as Mischief and Candy arrive at a safe stopping point, the two get separated and Candy is left to navigate this strange new land on her own. Along the way, Candy learns that she is more significant than she ever thought possible, and that Abarat is not as unfamiliar as she originally thought.

What I liked: Wow. That is literally all I can say. From start to finish, Abarat was a thrill ride that kept you guessing until the very end. But before I go further into the plot I just want to say the artwork in Abarat was amazing. Clive Barker drew every single picture in this book and each one was amazing. The pictures added so much to the story and made it so much more real yet abstract at the same time. With vibrant colors and creative ideas, these pictures were hard not to love, even if they could be a little dark and scary. Also, I liked the quirkiness of the book. Abarat was filled from start to finish with weird and strange ideas that shouldn't have worked all together. But because the world of Abarat was such an abstract place - the drawings, story lines, and characters all worked within the story in ways in which they normally couldn't.

What I didn't like: Nothing. I can't think of a single thing. Perhaps if I was getting extra extra super super picky, I could say that I didn't like how quickly Barker went from location to location. I wish I could have read more about each island. But it was essential for the story to be running from place to place as Candy was pursued so it was okay. And I satisfied my need for more information about the islands by reading the appendix at the back. Yes I know I'm a nerd but I wouldn't be writing this blog if I wasn't.

Overall: 9.9 out of 10. Amazing. Thrilling. Colorful. Dramatic. I would recommend this to anyone. I am fiercely upset that the next book doesn't come out until 2011.