Review: Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy by Karen Foxlee

This is a book I have owned for almost ten years. Which I finally decided to read. I had hoped I would adore this one. It seemed like such a cute middle grade story. But I ended up disappointed. So I am giving this one two stars. I just did not like it much at all. Plus side, it was really short and fast to read. Just not very good.

I'm not going to write a long review for this one. Since it was truly that short. And I do not have that much to say either. I wish I had liked this book. As the story was interesting and could have been so exciting. If it had been longer. If it had been written better. But it was not. I very much disliked the writing. Every part of it. Sigh.

Which is what disappointed me the most. It was written horribly. I know, it could just be my opinion. But I am very obsessed about good writing. And this was very much not it. This book was about an eleven-year-old girl, Ophelia. And the writing made it feel like she was eight or younger. Her older sister, Alice, was fifteen. She felt more like she could have been eleven. And their dad was just there and did not feel like he was any help. And their mother had died three months earlier. This main girl, Ophelia, keeps hearing her whisper in her ear. Yeah. It was a little weird, to be honest. I guess she just missed her, but the way it was written was odd. The grief was almost good, but I just did not care at all. I wanted to like this family of three. But they didn't seem connected. Which was disappointing. I wanted more family feelings and such.

I'm unsure what to write about this book. It takes place in less than a week. I suppose it takes place in a museum, of sorts. It is also mentioned as a palace. And the book keeps going a bit back and forth. I just honestly feel like this could have been a great story. If it had been written better and had been longer with more details. Instead it just felt rushed and weird. I wanted to adore Ophelia. I did not. All she did was run around in the museum, all day, and taking her asthma medicine. I don't think it should be taken that often.

Anyway. This book was not only about Ophelia. It was also the story about the Marvelous Boy. And I did not like this part. I tried to like him. He was a boy, trapped in a room for about three hundred years. And he needs Ophelia to save him, before he dies in three days. Yeah. We get to see where he came from, a different place, I guess. With wizards and magic. A snow queen, who followed him into our world, three hundred years ago. He is chosen to get rid of her. This did not go as planned, and he was taken captive.

I wish I could have liked this story. But it was a bit all over the place. Too much in too little time. I felt for the boy with no name. But I did not care at all. The magic was weird. How he spent years with a king that kept him as a toy. Well. It was so weird. And then he was kept in a room for that long. Yeah. This woman was supposed to be so evil. Having killed many young girls. With this museum having ghosts and such. It felt a bit too much, with how short the book was and how few details there were. Should have been more.

I wanted this book to be more. So yes. I was disappointed. I did like parts of it. I liked learning more about the boy, though I did not care much for him. Ophelia tried to save him, and they became friends. In a few days. Without actually spending time together, her on the outside of his door. I did not feel this supposed friendship at all, sadly. And her relationship with her sister was very bad. Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy was not what I had hoped for, sadly. A little good, but mostly bad. But I have finally read it, at least, haha.

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