Corydon and the Island of Monsters (Corydon Trilogy #1)
by Tobias Druitt
Corydon: I am just a normal shepherd boy.... except that my foot isn't one of a human's.
Stheno:According to the stars, he's the Mormoluke that can lead the monsters to survival....
Corydon: That's impossible...
Medusa: You're the one who will save us from the Olympians, Corydon.
Corydon: But I'm no hero...
Perseus: I so don't wanna fight but I HAD TO because I'm a HERO! Let's go to Monster Island, boys! I'm already so physically prepared even if mentally unprepared!
Corydon: *gulps*!
The author had a very interesting idea for this trilogy. He didn't modernize mythology unlike the other mythology based series nowadays; he maintained the classic storytelling with a little twist: the monsters are the good guys. Through this we were given a different perspective on mythological events, and the monsters were given personality.... not just some beings that are like defeatable per stage until the hero reaches the final boss and becomes victorious.
Unfortunately, despite the potential, it failed to become as impressive as it seemed. The monsters are portrayed too symphathetically, making them drama queen and drama king wannabes. I could no longer count how many times it was mentioned in the book on how badly they were treated, how they prefer soltitude and nature,, and how much their fate relies on the young hero... thus making them such boring characters.
They whine and rant a lot.... but none of them beats the main character as the most annoying creature in the book. Ignorance is forgivable, but the boy's beyond stupid. I believe it's more than once when he did something dangerous right after he has been warned about it and informed about the consequences. What's worse is that he always relies to another being, who is unconditionally protective towards him, to help him out. He was useless except for around the end of the book, when he finally thought of using the skills he had been so proud of since the earlier chapters. I don't expect him to be a courageous hero too early, but not having any character development except around the end makes him so despicable.
The only chapters that had been quite fun to read are those that are centered on the "bad guys". They are very silly, but at least they are humorous, unlike the "good guys". I believe this book would've been more entertaining if only the main characters are as silly and wacky as the antagonists.
Unfortunately, the most that the funny chapters of this book could do is to make you giggle a little. Yeah, they're funny, but not funny enough to make you laugh your head off. In other words, some jokes are pretty lame. But if you're someone easy to laugh, then you might not feel the same.
The best part of this book for me is: The Glossary. The descriptions were really amusing that makes me wonder WHY this type of humor hadn't been used in the entire book?! The author had the potential in making this book fun and hilarious, but it appears that he preferred his audience to feel sorry for the monsters rather than laugh at them.
I have so many other complains on this book like with how disturbing it is for a YA novel (Please, there's no way Corydon only saw Medusa as a mother with how he sees her), how absurd some parts of the story had been (A human became Corydon's companion so easily), how dumb some solutions had been (Corydon was able to know an answer from a riddle by BEGGING), and so on. But my biggest complain on this book is: BORING. VERY BORING.
It was a pain to finish this thing. I have no intention of experiencing the same pain by reading the next book.
Unfortunately, despite the potential, it failed to become as impressive as it seemed. The monsters are portrayed too symphathetically, making them drama queen and drama king wannabes. I could no longer count how many times it was mentioned in the book on how badly they were treated, how they prefer soltitude and nature,, and how much their fate relies on the young hero... thus making them such boring characters.
They whine and rant a lot.... but none of them beats the main character as the most annoying creature in the book. Ignorance is forgivable, but the boy's beyond stupid. I believe it's more than once when he did something dangerous right after he has been warned about it and informed about the consequences. What's worse is that he always relies to another being, who is unconditionally protective towards him, to help him out. He was useless except for around the end of the book, when he finally thought of using the skills he had been so proud of since the earlier chapters. I don't expect him to be a courageous hero too early, but not having any character development except around the end makes him so despicable.
The only chapters that had been quite fun to read are those that are centered on the "bad guys". They are very silly, but at least they are humorous, unlike the "good guys". I believe this book would've been more entertaining if only the main characters are as silly and wacky as the antagonists.
Unfortunately, the most that the funny chapters of this book could do is to make you giggle a little. Yeah, they're funny, but not funny enough to make you laugh your head off. In other words, some jokes are pretty lame. But if you're someone easy to laugh, then you might not feel the same.
The best part of this book for me is: The Glossary. The descriptions were really amusing that makes me wonder WHY this type of humor hadn't been used in the entire book?! The author had the potential in making this book fun and hilarious, but it appears that he preferred his audience to feel sorry for the monsters rather than laugh at them.
I have so many other complains on this book like with how disturbing it is for a YA novel (Please, there's no way Corydon only saw Medusa as a mother with how he sees her), how absurd some parts of the story had been (A human became Corydon's companion so easily), how dumb some solutions had been (Corydon was able to know an answer from a riddle by BEGGING), and so on. But my biggest complain on this book is: BORING. VERY BORING.
It was a pain to finish this thing. I have no intention of experiencing the same pain by reading the next book.
D+ (REALLY DISAPPOINTING! How could you do this to me?!) Interesting idea on making the monster in mythology the "good guys" but.... it's extremely boring!
2 Hearts ---> DISLIKE I like Kharmides. I find Perseus amusing. But the overall I didn't enjoy it so nah...
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