Stormbreaker Review (on a review)

Hey guys! I have decided to do my next book review a bit differently this time. Instead of reviewing the book itself, I will be reviewing someone else's review on the book. I have decided to do this with Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowhitz on Sanchit's review over at "Inside the Covers". The first paragraph will be critiquing his review, the second paragraph on my thoughts on the book. To find out what the book is about, go to Goodreads. It's the answer to everything. :D

Sanchit included key points throughout the review, many that I agreed with. He mentioned characterization, and how the author didn't elaborate on any characters except for Alex Rider. We both felt that the people that Horowhitz spoke of weren't very well developed (with the exception of Alex, the main character). He didn't mention whether or not that took away from the story, but he certainly implied it. He also said that Alex Rider was a round character, which I thought was a great way to describe him. Sanchit also talked about setting, but not much. Written in his review was, “he lived in London, goes to a school named Brookland…” but he never said anything more. I think that it would have been good if he added more to enhance his review. Now, something I didn’t agree with was what he said about the plot. I think that it was more because of our different reading levels that I disagreed, but anyhow… He remarked that the book was filled with action. “[Readers] will be in extreme suspicion to see what happens next.” I, on the other hand, thought that the book was a bit slow and juvenile, lacking the adrenaline that I was hoping to get from this book. Another thing that I didn’t agree with was the theme. Sanchit thought that the theme was death, and how it should never interfere with success. I don’t think that was what the author was getting at. I think that the theme was about never giving up, as well as trust. I found evidence of this theme throughout the story. In many instances Alex had to make a choice between two people, or two directions. He often had to make a decision like, “Listen to them or go my own way,” or “Follow the path that they told me to follow, or turn in the other direction.”

         Now for the things that Sanchit didn’t mention in his review. Let’s start with attention to detail.  I thought that Horowhitz did a good job at including important details into the text. Since this was a mystery novel, it was important that the author included those details for support of the plot. Another thing that I would like to mention is the writing style. The language didn’t fit me. It reminded me of the type of books I may have read in grades 5 or 6.  It was also really predictable, but I probably wouldn’t have predicted things as easily if I were younger. This brings me to my next point: a rating. For me the writing style was a big aspect in choosing how many stars to give. I loved the plot and the story, but the way it was written docked it down to 3 stars rather than 5. It wasn’t amazing, but it wasn’t bad. I would recommend this book to anyone in grades 5 or 6, or someone in grade 7 or 8 that doesn’t read as often, to go and pick up this book! It will be filled with action and suspicion!!

All images from Goodreads.com