The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

Summary:

Orphan Hugo Cabret lives in a wall. His secret home is etched out in the crevices of a busy Paris train station. Part-time clock keeper, part-time thief, he leads a life of quiet routine until he gets involved with an eccentric, bookish young girl and an angry old man who runs a toy booth in the station. The Invention of Hugo Cabret unfolds its cryptic, magical story in a format that blends elements of picture book, novel, graphic novel, and film. Caldecott Honor-winning author-illustrator Brian Selznick has fashioned an intricate puzzle story that binds the reader like a mesmerist's spell.

Length: 533 pages (hardcover edition)

Source: Library

Publication Date: 2007

Summary taken from GoodReads.com

I know I've been a bit lax lately posting my reviews but I haven't been idle! I've already read 22 books this month so I'm doing pretty good but I will be posting my reviews faster now.

The main reason I wanted to read this book is because of the movie which I haven't seen yet but I think it looked really good so even though this was a kid's book I thought I would give it a try. I thought that this book was unique and I really enjoyed the artwork. The artwork was actually the best part of the whole book in my opinion.

I will admit that the story was different from all the magic that seems to be in kids books now and it was nice to have a break from that but, I didn't really care for the writing in this book at all. I really wanted to like this one because I read a lovely review of  it over at The Crazy Life of a Bookaholic Mom (one of my favourite blogs run by a fellow GoodReads group member).  But I didn't like it all that much. I couldn't connect to any of the characters at all and found them all really annoying. I didn't like Hugo at all. I thought he was a  little brat and he deserved to be treated as a nuisance. Yes his father dies but honestly his whole demeanor didn't sit well with me.

The only reason that I even bothered to finish it was on the hope that it would get a little better and it did slightly. I found Papa Georges part in the story to be interesting and it was one of the few things I did like apart from the artwork. Despite the idea for the plot being a good one and the artwork being so lovely I would have given this a much lower rating than I have. But, like always I encourage you to go out and try it yourselves. Just because I didn't like it, it doesn't mean that you won't and even though I thought the book was lacking a lot I would still recommend this for kids to read on their own or with someone. I think that for a children's book it could have been much worse but it could have also been much better. I do hope that whenever me and the Mister do watch this movie that I like it more than I did the book.

★ ★ 1/2