[Book Review] The Spiderwick Chronicles by Holly Black & Tony DiTerlizzi

It all started with a mysterious letter left at a tiny bookstore for authors Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black. Its closing lines: "We just want people to know about this. The stuff that has happened to us could happen to anyone." Little could they imagine the remarkable adventure that awaited them as they followed Jared, Simon, and Mallory Grace and a strange old book into a world filled with elves, goblins, dwarves, trolls, and a fantastical menagerie of other creatures. The oddest part is in entering that world, they didn't leave this one!

Five captivating books!
One thrilling adventure!
The Spiderwick Chronicles

* * * 

These books are so short ( ~ 100 pages each) I see them more like short stories that connect so that's how I will review them! I don't have enough thoughts on each of them to warrant five individual book reviews. I read these when I was a kid and absolutely loved them and honestly after this re-read I totally understand why. 

  The Field Guide

Holly Black & Tony DiTerlizzi

⭐⭐⭐

This was a really great way to set up our main character's personalities. I feel like I understand the basic general idea of who they are and it'll be fun to explore them more. The story itself is a bit slow but I assume that's because we are building up to the story. I really love the illustrations and the relationships between the siblings.. 

There's not much to say. The cliffhanger was well done and definitely gets me want to continue. I dunno how little me waited for the next book to be published.

The Seeing Stone

Holly Black & Tony DiTerlizzi
⭐⭐⭐.5

This one was really action packed and fun! It is exciting to finally see the creatures we've heard a little about in the first one when referenced from the Field Guide. I am really happy with how we are getting to know the main characters more while also having this supernatural world slowly expand. It's cool to be able to experience it for the first time with the characters. 

Lucinda's Secret 

Holly Black & Tony DiTerlizzi
⭐⭐⭐.5

I liked seeing the siblings work together more, put their arguments aside and focus on the mission. Jared is learning to be more apologetic when it comes to his habit of violently jumping to conclusions or to his defense. Ii like that in this one Jared shows his siblings that he can be smart and quick witted too. Also, the illustrations of the elves were so pretty. 

 The Ironwood Tree

Holly Black & Tony DiTerlizzi
⭐⭐⭐⭐

I really enjoyed this one! I think the shape-shifter creature along with the boys having to work together was what made me like it a lot more.  Plus I think the subplot of Jared's parents being worried for him because of his "acting out" (hen most recently at least, it's been more supernatural than normal teenage angst) makes sense and brings normalcy to this supernatural story. 

The Wrath of Mulgarath

Holly Black & Tony DiTerlizzi
⭐⭐⭐⭐

This was a really nice ending to this story! The action and tension was suspenseful and the story wrapped up nicely. I really love the way the story arcs concluded from the supernatural elements to the normal life elements of the story. The ending genuinely got me choked up and I am hoping to continue with the spin-off series. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this story as a whole!! I totally get why it was so popular when I was younger and  I think this story should have easily gotten more than only one movie. I do think it was a rip off to split this story up into five incredibly short chapters instead of combining them together. I remember sitting in the back seat of my bio-dad's mini-van while he complained that I read these books way too fast to make it worth the amount of money they cost individually. I had the gorgeous hardcover editions with these covers. I kind of have to agree, but I do recommend picking this book up in a bind up or a box set. They're definitely worth the read. 

Thanks for reading!