Inkheart

Rating:
Summary: Thrilling; Even better than "Thief Lord"
Review: We liked this one even better than Funke's most recent work, "The Thief Lord." Inkheart's premise is even more engaging: Meggie's dad, a bookbinder, is so marvelous at reading out loud that many years ago he "read" the villain Capricorn from a book called "Inkheart" into reality. The villain then kidnapped Meggie's mom. Meggie and her dad must find them and trick them back into the book.

Although Inkheart is a long book (500+ pages), Funke establishes the thrills and the threat in the book's premise almost immediately, on a dark and stormy night and the day following when Meggie and her dad first try to make their escape. The narrative continues to an isolated village in Italy where Meggie encounters a menagerie of minor evil characters who have also escaped from the book.

Meggie is an engaging and spunky heroine that will appeal to both boy and girl readers.

A nice feature of the book is its general love for books - dad Mo is a bookbinder, aunt Elinor is a book collector with a huge library. Clearly Funke is not a lightweight trying to cash in on the Harry Potter fantasy kick; she conveys her love of books and language in a way that will enthuse any reader from 8 to 80.

Rating:
Summary: inkheart
Review: I really loved this book! It seemed so real. It is a story about how characters can really come out of books and a man who can read characters in and out of books. My favourite character was Dustfinger.

Rating:
Summary: One Girl, One Book, A Whole World of Adventure
Review: I really liked this book! When I received Inkheart I thought, "Oh boy, this book is by Cornelia Funke, the author of The Thief Lord. From the minute I began to read this book I knew that Inkheart would be enjoyed by all who like fantasy, adventure and mystery.

The main character, Meggie, has always wanted her father to read aloud to her, but he never does. When Meggie finds out why, she gets dragged into a war to defeat the evil Capricorn (one of the characters that emerged off the pages of the last book her father read aloud). Will Meggie and her friends succeed in killing Capricorn or sending him back into the book?

I give this book a five star rating. It is well written and Cornelia Funke did a great job of capturing my attention and keeping me glued to the pages. I really love this book and highly recommend it to anyone who is at least 8 years old. I think my parents might like it too.

Rating:
Summary: Fifty Plus!
Review: One reviewer gave the impression that adults would not enjoy this book as much as they did Harry Potter. I'm over 50 and loved this book every bit as much! I really liked the character development. I hope there will be a sequel so I can read more about Meggie, Elinor, and Dustfinger. My 14-yr-old daughter received this book for Christmas, but is reading The Lord of the Rings trilogy right now. Lucky me.

Rating:
Summary: A wonderfully, imaginative story, but...
Review: ... it took Funke wa-ay too long to tell it. After reading the tight, well-paced "Thief Lord," Funke's earlier book, I and my sons were eager to jump into "Inkheart." More words do not, however, necessarily mean a better story nor, seemingly, more action. A 500+ children's book can be forgiven if there are twists and turns throughout, as well as numerous multi-dimensional characters. But Funke's book is a pretty straightforward affair, all plot resolutions having been assumed from the get-go, and all characters (half a dozen primary ones) introduced right up front. The translation from the original German felt somewhat rushed and weak. There were several occasions in which words were needlessly repeated within a given sentence or neighboring sentences. Also, the translator, Bell, didn't seem to realize that this children's book just might be read out loud to, well, a child. Oftentimes, homonyms adjoined one another in a manner which confused my sons, to whom I was reading the book out loud. All in all, this felt like a much-too-fast followup to the success of "Thief Lord." There's a terrific story here, but a rushed effort created unnecessary problems.

Rating:
Summary: Inkheart
Review: Cornelia Funke has done it again, following her successful debut to the U.S. book market with "The Thief Lord", with an amazing modern fairy tale, "Inkheart". Funke is a popular children's book author in Germany and we have her daughter to thank for getting her book introduced to Great Britain, and subsequently, the United States. I can't wait to read "Inkheart" to my 9 year old daughter and recommend it to my Harry Potter-loving high-school daughter. My only criticism is the dialogue of Dustfinger, the fire-eating magician, which seemed too sophisticated for a character who worked at street fairs in his hardscrabble life. This must be due to the problems inherent in translation. Still, this should hardly detract from my whole-hearted commendation of this book. Don't delay...get your hands on this book soon!

Rating:
Summary: Very Well Done!
Review: Inkheart by Cornelia Funke is a must read for all fantasy lovers! Its plot and storyline keeps you interested, while the characters are amazing. I love this book and will read it over and over again for years to come. I hope to see more from the author too!

Rating:
Summary: Engaging yet something was missing
Review: I picked this up at the bookstore due to the cover art. I leafed through it and thought it looked like a good read, so I took it it home. The plot is great and very imaginative. You start to really care for the characters, but what kept throwing me while reading is the dialogue. Who talks like this? Maybe since the original is in German, something got lost in translation, but I keep think to myself that no one talks in the cadence as written. I also felt that the prose was a little staccato for even a children's book. Again, maybe something got lost in translation. Otherwise, I fine read and one I look forward to sharing with my daughter when she gets older.

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic, magical, original tale.
Review: Wow, what can I say? I kept reading this book to the very end, never putting it down. Cornelia Funke creates outstanding characters, Basta, Capricorn, Mo, Dustfinger, and Meggie especially that are evil, good, and believable. Many surprising turns and twists keep you going throuighout the whole story. A very different ending, though I was surprised at how fast it happened. I reccommend to all fantasy lovers. And other people, why the heck do you keep on reading them if you dont like it? If you dont like a book, put it down. No one should be too old for this one.

Rating:
Summary: For the love of literature
Review: One year after Cornelia Funke's The Thief Lord won young hearts everywhere, drawing comparisons to the Harry Potter series, comes Inkheart, a novel about the magic of books. Inkheart proves that the German children's writer is in a class of her own, tracing the paths of Meggie and her father Mortimer, a book restorer, on an unlikely adventure.

As reality grows to liken the pages of a mysterious, fantastical story, Meggie gradually learns bits about her past, such as why she cannot remember her father ever having read out loud to her. As an added bonus, there are enough references in the book to spark young people's interest in other great works--and chapter introductions that include famous scenes from the world's most beloved pieces of children's literature.

Unlike the Harry Potter series, which can easily be enjoyed by adults, this book is more geared towards children. Nevertheless, buy it and read it to your kids. If anything, it can be one more step towards establishing a love for books in your own home.