Ok, in my opinion. Cornelia Funke's writing is...ugh... I especially abhor this book. I read it for about three minutes before I put it down and turned to the, rather childish, but much better compared to that piece of work, How to Train your Dragon. Reckless. Awesome book cover, not gonna lie. but the book itself. Oh my. It starts out waaaay too fast. Him finding the mirror and going in it in a matter of the two first pages, and it not being an epilogue. Then the next page magically goes to his dying brother. Not only that, but what's with the random saying of names in the narration. Such as( I cannot remember the line, at all, this is just an example) "I saw Will looking at my bloodied and glass covered hand. I grimaced at him and shoved past. I went to my room. Will. Later that night when he was sleeping I went back to the mirror.". Like I said, I can't remember the sentence at all. But he randomly just says his brothers name in random places. More than once. I don't get it! It's just bothersome! EDIT: Also, I'm sorry if this doesn't belong here.
I really like Cornelia's previous work and am looking forward to reading this one. However, it IS translated from German - who is the translator? Is it still Anthea Bell? That might explain the clumsy writing. I hope this one isn't a let down.
I am reading this now and I have to say - I now see what you mean. It seems to introduce us to the mirrorworld and then jump 12 years into the future, making brief mention of various adventures that happen to Jacob in his previous visits, suddenly Will is injured and turning to stone and they have to rush to save him. It feels almost to me like they've editted out half the story! And there are an awful lot of broken, incomplete sentences. Not that I have a problem with that. I do it myself. I notice it is a different translator. Maybe he has not done as skillful a job as Anthea Bell. Also, I am unsure of the intended audience. It was in the children's section, but the characters are adults and there are several implied sex scenes and sexual tension, yet the plot is too simplistic to be an adult's book. Odd.
