Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

Inkheart has recently been made into a movie, and it sounds like an interesting plot: a man who can read characters out of books and into our world discovers his talent when he accidentally reads two bad men and one "good" man into our world. And thus the battle between good and evil begins.

I didn't like it.

The plot idea is good, but I don't like the author's style that much. Her simile's don't make sense, and all of her characters are annoying. Including the hero, his daughter and other "good guys." The story is WAY too long, by the middle of the book I was ready for the good characters to die, ANYTHING to end the endless story! And when it finally did end, it was a sudden, unsatisfactory ending, which obviously is supposed to have the sequels the author has written. I don't know if I'm going to bother with the next two books. The good news is that the movie has a chance of being better than the book it's based on (which hardly ever happens with GOOD books).

Also, the book is written in a style that seems to be for children (8-12 in my opinion) but at the same time is way over their heads (and also kind of scary in places). I don't recommend it for anyone.

However, just in case you want to read it and form your own opinion:
There are a few cuss words but otherwise it's clean.
There is no mention of God, but the "bad guys" spread stories about the devil to help with their cover.
There is a abandoned church used by the bad guys as a meeting place. They painted the walls blood-red and put a throne (of sorts) for the main villain in place of the altar.
There is a mention of witchcraft, although no signs that there are any real witches or magic (other than the magic of reading characters out of books, anyway).

But in spite of all that, I plan to see the movie if I ever get a nice, inexpensive opportunity. The movie will likely be shorter, and since I expect it to be something as cheesy as Eragon or the Spiderwick Chronicles, I probably won't be disappointed.

~Lizzie