The unbelievable amount of creativity in this book is impressive. Every magical creature or myth you could possibly imagine is given a twist and added to the cast of "Man Made Boy". The mashup on Medusa is, by far, my favorite of all the characters. Known as "The Diva", Medusa horrifies and entices people from her extra-large dressing room. But it's not just the twist that makes me love her--it's the constant wisdom and insightful life lessons she imparts on Boy that make her, in my opinion, the most complex and interesting character in the entire book. That isn't to say there are not other wonderfully fun and inventive twists throughout the book--Skovron's take on Frankenstein's Bride are also inventive and fun, but lacks the depth of his Medusa.
Another aspect of this book that I absolutely loved were the tech references. This is probably because I work in the technology field, but the fact that one of the characters is named VI after the visual editing software made me so happy I could almost cry. But the author is not just a tech lover in the way he structures his story and characters--his note at the end of the book about supporting open source software was something I had never seen before. An author taking a stand against big bad Microsoft Word is, to me, an unbelievably admirable feat. You go, Skovron!
So if I like this book so much, why only 3.5 stars? I will tell you. The characters were inventive, the plot was interesting, but the plot twists themselves felt entirely too abrupt. So much happened throughout the book, but it never felt like Boy spent enough time in any one place for the reader to get a good sense of the setting and its people. I think if this book had been split into at least two parts, the author would have had more time to extrapolate on Boy's adventures instead of feeling the need to rush through them unnecessarily.
Overall, "Man Made Boy" was a fun, unbelievably inventive read. I loved the mashup monster characters and the technological focus of the story. My only issues were with the abrupt plot twists, which made the story feel too rushed.
Another aspect of this book that I absolutely loved were the tech references. This is probably because I work in the technology field, but the fact that one of the characters is named VI after the visual editing software made me so happy I could almost cry. But the author is not just a tech lover in the way he structures his story and characters--his note at the end of the book about supporting open source software was something I had never seen before. An author taking a stand against big bad Microsoft Word is, to me, an unbelievably admirable feat. You go, Skovron!
So if I like this book so much, why only 3.5 stars? I will tell you. The characters were inventive, the plot was interesting, but the plot twists themselves felt entirely too abrupt. So much happened throughout the book, but it never felt like Boy spent enough time in any one place for the reader to get a good sense of the setting and its people. I think if this book had been split into at least two parts, the author would have had more time to extrapolate on Boy's adventures instead of feeling the need to rush through them unnecessarily.
Overall, "Man Made Boy" was a fun, unbelievably inventive read. I loved the mashup monster characters and the technological focus of the story. My only issues were with the abrupt plot twists, which made the story feel too rushed.
Back to all reviews by this member
Back to all reviews of this book
Back to Book Reviews
Back to Book Details
Back to all reviews of this book
Back to Book Reviews
Back to Book Details
