Review by AnissaS -- The Crystilleries of Echoland

This forum is for volunteer reviews by members of our review team. These reviews are done voluntarily by the reviewers and are published in this forum, separate from the official professional reviews. These reviews are kept separate primarily because the same book may be reviewed by many different reviewers.
Post Reply
Anissa96
Posts: 11
Joined: 30 May 2019, 19:51
Currently Reading:
Bookshelf Size: 15
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-anissa96.html
Latest Review: The Crystilleries of Echoland by Dew Pellucid

Review by AnissaS -- The Crystilleries of Echoland

Post by Anissa96 »

[Following is a volunteer review of "The Crystilleries of Echoland" by Dew Pellucid.]
Book Cover
3 out of 4 stars
Share This Review


After reading, The Crystilleries of Echoland by Dew Pellucid, I found an interesting world that was written in great detail to understand how the new world around our main character, Will, worked. The story was very detailed, that it was easy to imagine how the world really looked. Despite it being well-written, the story also had a few confusing parts, such as on page 108, when it stated ‘Will slid off the tail of a mouse’ as it later showed that the mouse was of normal size.

The characters are well-written, it’s good to see the main character, Will, grow from his confused state, which became a little frustrating but it doesn’t last long, to a character that is able to come up with ideas to help his friends on his journey. It’s also good to see the main character question the ones around him, to know if he can truly trust them instead of going by the opinions of others, which is not shown very often in stories. His relationship with characters such as Peter or his sister are well-written to understand their points of views and reasons behind their decisions despite not being able to read their thoughts. His relationship with the pet he receives in Echoland, on the other hand, isn’t as well-flourished as the story tries to make it seem around the end of the story. The minor antagonists in the story, like the bullies, don’t feel necessary, they just tend to give the characters Will and Peter obstacles during their journey, which kind of get frustrating and without much reasons to their actions. The main antagonists were fully developed and were interesting throughout their development in the story and were given many reasons for their motives to go against the protagonists. The final antagonist, on the other hand, were written is a rush during the end of the story and their character development wasn’t built up very well, considering it went along with their introduction, even though they were brought up occasionally, but since they didn’t last very long in the story, I didn’t really mind it, and I assume it was due to explaining the item they receive from their journey.

There were a few minor spelling errors along with some unnecessary double spacing between some words. Another inconsistency was on page 169 when it states ‘she whispered’ but is soon changed to ‘he listened’.

The story also includes a self insert from the author of the book, which I found interesting considering the character wasn’t too major to interfere with the story. I’d rate this story a 3 out of 4 , and would gladly recommend it to others.

******
The Crystilleries of Echoland
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
User avatar
Erin Painter Baker
Posts: 1810
Joined: 21 May 2019, 17:00
Favorite Book: Among Others
Currently Reading:
Bookshelf Size: 87
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-esp1975.html
Latest Review: Luke and Luka: Genius Kid Heroes by A.D. Largie

Post by Erin Painter Baker »

I noted that Dew Pellucid is a pen name. I assumed the writer used the name of a character in the book as the author of the book to help make it seem more real. I have noticed this a lot in middle-grade and young adult fantasy, especially those where at least some of the action takes place in the world as we know it. It is meant to help the readers with the suspension of disbelief.
Post Reply

Return to “Volunteer Reviews”