Page Count: 247
Published on: January 1, 1962
Published by: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Genre(s): Fantasy, Science Fiction, Classic, Children's, Middle Grade, Fiction
Source: paperback
Age Rating: all ages
Where To Find It: Goodreads // Amazon // Book Depository
My Rating: 2 stars
Goodreads synopsis:
Meg Murry and her friends become involved with unearthly strangers and a search for Meg's father, who has disappeared while engaged in secret work for the government.
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Hey, guys!
I never grew up reading Madeleine L'Engle's books. I know. It's a shock. Once I saw the trailer for the 2018 movie for A Wrinkle in Time, I. had to see what the hype was about. Better late than never, right? I think I was wrong. I really didn't enjoy this book. It just wasn't for me. I didn't like the characters, I felt like the world was just crammed into the 247 pages, and that the story wasn't fleshed out enough. I understand that it's a children's story, but I've read plenty of children's books that were really well done! I felt like AWiT was just a bit of a disappointment. I'm not even sure if I would have loved it back in the day, but I guess we'll never actually know.
There were quite a few reasons why I didn't really enjoy this book. One of them being the characters. The main character, Meg, was just so annoying. She was always whining and she never really had any realistic progression. One second she was whining, the next she was trying to seem heroic. I just didn't like her character much at all. The little brother Charles wasn't any better. Now, I'm not a person who hates a fictional six-year-old. I'm really not. But by the time I got halfway through the book, Charles Wallace was just really aggravating and unrealistic. There are plenty of smart six-year-olds, but they still have 90% of their child-like qualities. Charles Wallace just seemed like a 50-year-old stuck in the body of a 5 to 6-year-old. It wasn't done well. I really could not get into his character. Let's talk about Calvin. He had no character depth at all. He was just there within a chapter, they trusted him right away, and then he was a part of the group. What? There was no real explanation!
I really liked the premise of Mrs Whatsit, Mrs Who, and Mrs Which. They could have been really cool, but they weren't fully fleshed out or done well either. There were no real establishing factors for the world, the characters, or the magic/science thing they were doing. It was just there. I was fully ready to get into this classic quintet, but the whole book (and all aspects of it) fell flat. I just was really really disappointed.
I can see why children all over the world grew up loving this book, but I don't think that it's something I would enjoy now. I wish it was, but I can't force it. I'll definitely go see the movie, but I don't think I'll finish the books.
There were quite a few reasons why I didn't really enjoy this book. One of them being the characters. The main character, Meg, was just so annoying. She was always whining and she never really had any realistic progression. One second she was whining, the next she was trying to seem heroic. I just didn't like her character much at all. The little brother Charles wasn't any better. Now, I'm not a person who hates a fictional six-year-old. I'm really not. But by the time I got halfway through the book, Charles Wallace was just really aggravating and unrealistic. There are plenty of smart six-year-olds, but they still have 90% of their child-like qualities. Charles Wallace just seemed like a 50-year-old stuck in the body of a 5 to 6-year-old. It wasn't done well. I really could not get into his character. Let's talk about Calvin. He had no character depth at all. He was just there within a chapter, they trusted him right away, and then he was a part of the group. What? There was no real explanation!
I really liked the premise of Mrs Whatsit, Mrs Who, and Mrs Which. They could have been really cool, but they weren't fully fleshed out or done well either. There were no real establishing factors for the world, the characters, or the magic/science thing they were doing. It was just there. I was fully ready to get into this classic quintet, but the whole book (and all aspects of it) fell flat. I just was really really disappointed.
I can see why children all over the world grew up loving this book, but I don't think that it's something I would enjoy now. I wish it was, but I can't force it. I'll definitely go see the movie, but I don't think I'll finish the books.
Other Middle Grade and Children's Books I Love:
- The School For Good & Evil (#1-4) by Soman Chainani
- Book 1 {click here}
- Book 2 {click here}
- Book 3 {click here}
- Handbook {click here}
- Anything by Rick Riordan
- Anything by Pseudonymous Bosch
- Furthermore & Whichwood by Tahereh Mafi
- ALL HARRY POTTER!
Happy reading!
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