{Review} Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy - Karen Foxlee

Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy
By Karen Foxlee
Genre: MG Fantasy
Release Date: Jan 28 / 2014
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers

A modern-day fairy tale set in a mysterious museum that is perfect for readers of Roald Dahl and Blue Balliett.

Unlikely heroine Ophelia Jane Worthington-Whittard doesn't believe in anything that can't be proven by science. She and her sister Alice are still grieving for their dead mother when their father takes a job in a strange museum in a city where it always snows. On her very first day in the museum Ophelia discovers a boy locked away in a long forgotten room. He is a prisoner of Her Majesty the Snow Queen. And he has been waiting for Ophelia's help.

As Ophelia embarks on an incredible journey to rescue the boy everything that she believes will be tested. Along the way she learns more and more about the boy's own remarkable journey to reach her and save the world.

A story within a story, this a modern day fairytale is about the power of friendship, courage and love, and never ever giving up.

*A copy was provided by the publisher for review*

Thanks so much to Random House and Netgalley!

The writing style of this book reminded me a lot of another Random House title I read a while ago, The Book of Lost Things. While in that book, the writing style bore me to death; in this book, it brought out the charm and the magical feeling of the whole story. 

This book is geared towards middle grade kids. I don't really feel that I'm too old for it (I'm 15 for your consideration), but the mystery of the whole thing was too easy to solve. She'd just mention one thing and I'd figure it out. It takes a long time for Ophelia to figure everything out and that frustrated me a lot. The first time I met the Snow Queen, I knew it was her (Ophelia didn't figure it out until the end). Not a lot of mystery for me to solve but I really enjoyed how the story played out. My favourite part was listening to the Marvelous Boy's tales. They were intriguing and pulled me more into the whole story. 

Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy is a charming book that will definitely pull readers in with its magical tale. I wish the mystery was harder to solve but I'm not the targeted audience so I can't complain :)

P. S. I still think the Marvelous Boy's name is David. In fact, I just call him David sometimes for no reason. Especially at that last scene. Oh, so sad.

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