Wondrous by Travis M. Riddle

      "Miles knew that magic wasn't real, even though he always wished it was. " - Wondrous

As someone who grew up on Alice In Wonderland, Narnia and Bruce Coville, Wondrous seemed like it would be a slam dunk for me, and while it didn't end up being a favorite, it was a fun read nonetheless.

Pros

Miles (our main character) is the glue that holds this story together. He's experienced a lot for a 9 year old, his parents are fighting all the time, his grandma just died, and now he's a prisoner in another world. But despite all of that, Miles tries his hardest to be friendly, understanding, and considerate of those around him (even when those around him are throwing him in cages and getting mad at him for being hungry).

"Miles almost instinctively gave an apology, but caught himself. Then he realized he really was sorry, so he said it."

Travis M Riddle also did a good job with the secondary characters. Miles has his trusty dog like buddy Clint (named after Clint Eastwood), who is impossible not to like, and his surrogate father figure Mortimer, who had such a unique character description that I was immediately intrigued.

"Now that he was closer, Miles was struck by how frog-like the creature the others referred to as "Rompun" appeared. He was much taller and fatter than Miles, his skin a grimy shade of green that glistened with fallen rain drops. His head was round and shiny, and his lower jaw jutted out in an impressive underbite. His nose was flat, with wide nostrils. The eyes were large and amphibious, a dirty yellow color with a black slit slicing vertically down the middle."

Another pro of Wondrous is the classic (and not so classic) coming of age style story we get with Miles. He has a lot of issues with emotion, and doesn't like being around strong emotions or feeling them, which was incredibly easy to identify with. What was not so classic about this story was the magic system. Miles is able to do elemental type magic (fire, water, earth and healing), but the magic only works when he is feeling certain strong emotions (which is very difficult for obvious reasons). This means that the only way that he can control his magic is by understanding his own emotions, and the easiest way to do that is by reliving stressful memories. In the end, that's what Wondrous ends up being about. It isn't about a unique fantasy world, it's about a scared, confused little kid that finds the strength to face his fears and soldier on despite his parents upcoming divorce and his Grandma's death.

Cons

The biggest issue for me with this book is that I felt like it could've been a good 50-100 pages shorter. I really enjoy it when I can imagine for myself the details of the world or that world's history, but Mr. Riddle doesn't really give me a chance to do that. Every little thing is described in detail, which as an adult is kind of annoying, but if I were younger, in the middle reader group that this book is intended for, it might not have bothered me. The incredibly descriptive writing almost made the book flow more like a movie script than a novel for me, which depending on your preference, might not be a bad thing.

"Riding the trolleys was helpful, but it still left people with a lot of walking to do since they did not connect all of Windheit, just the major areas: the castle, the marketplace, and a relatively small neighborhood. Otherwise, for shorter distances between platforms and buildings, there were wooden bridges with thin railings or steep trails going up and down the mountainside. Once he had finished showering, Miles followed Morimer to the trolley platform in the castle courtyard and took the next step over to the marketplace. They were in search of Marron Khrys-amir's old shoe shop to see if someone else had taken over. From the marketplace platform, they had to travel across three bridges that seemed far to precarious for Miles' liking before finally reaching the square that held Marron's old store as well as a candy shop, an antique store, and a cafe. Mortimer bought a cup of coffee before they entered the shoe shop, which was indeed still up and running."

Conclusion

This book surprised me on a lot of levels, I was expecting way more fantasy, and got more of a coming of age story instead, which isn't a bad thing, but definitely threw me for a loop at first. Overall this book was a fast, enjoyable read, that tackles a lot of difficult to talk about topics in a very relatable way, but ended up not being much more than a 3 star rating for me. But if you're looking for a fun, kid friendly story with minimal, non-graphic violence and nor sex or swearing, this book might well be a 4 or 5 star read.