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Amy and her mom leave their home in Germany to go to her mother's childhood home on a Scottish Island. Lady Mairead, Amy's grandmother, insists that Amy read while she's there. Not in the usual way, though, because Amy learns that she's a book jumper. That means she can jump into books and interact with their characters and their world. As great as that is, it's also dangerous as someone is stealing things and ideas from the books - and they may also be gunning for Amy, too. Amy has to team up with Will, a fellow book jumper, to get to the bottom of things.
The Book Jumper by Mechthild Gläser has so much potential and the concept behind this novel is excellent. It was actually one of my most anticipated reads, but unfortunately it didn't live up to my expectations. This is one of those times when I liked the idea at the heart of the story more than the actual execution of the book. How it actually turned out, it's more of a mess of YA tropes than anything, but it does have that cool hook. The two main detractors for me in this story are the lack of world building and the instalove. To keep it short, even by the end there's so much we don't know about book jumping and how it works and I ended up having more questions than I started out with. Then, in regards to the instalove - Amy, our special snowflake, immediately has to fall in love with the only other teen boy on the island because of course she does. On that note, all of the characters in this story are pretty flat and have too little character development for my liking.
Overall, The Book Jumper by Mechthild Gläser has a premise to immediately hook any book lover. I mean, who wouldn't want to read a story featuring characters who can actually jump into books and interact with their worlds and characters. However, the story's ultimately disappointing and that premise is the best part. Perhaps something is lost in German to English translation. I can't say that I recommend this 2017 release (in the English language), but if you'd like to avoid this mess yet still want to read a story that pulls off the concept of book jumping in an awesome way try the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde instead.
I read this book from January 31 - February 2, 2017 and my review is also on Goodreads.
Hi Lauren,
ReplyDeleteThe Goodreads ratings haven't been that bad for this book overall, but checking out the detail, it does seem to be one you either love or hate.
Like yourself, I was drawn in by the great premise and that fantastic cover, which obviously offers instant gratification to a book lover looking for their next good read.
I haven't read much in the way of translated books, although I am going to hopefully be delving into the world of the "Scandi" author a bit more, so no doubt translations will feature more then.
Whilst other readers amy make allowances, I'm afraid that a bad translation experience will probably put me off pretty quickly, so I admire your objective honesty in your review.
I hope that your next book will meet, or exceed your expectations :)
Yvonne
I know - many of the reviews have been fantastic. I just happened to fall on the other side in this particular case. Thanks for visiting and commenting, Yvonne!
DeleteInstalove can completely ruin a book for me. But now you've got me curious about the Thursday Next series. I'll have to check that one out!
ReplyDeleteNicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction
I hope you enjoy Thursday - I've only read the first book so far, but it's pretty awesome!
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