Book Review: Timothy Other: The Boy Who Climbed Marzipan Mountain by L. Sydney Abel

This book was given to me by the Author in exchange for a review. I have mixed feelings on whether I should write this review as it was gifted to me by the Author, but unfortunately I didn’t finish it. I  feel that I should write something as although it wasn’t to my taste, it will be to others, so here goes.

Timothy Other: The Boy Who Climbed Marzipan Mountain by L. Sydney Abel.

Description:

12 year-old adventurer, the intriguingly named Timothy Other, escapes the Dreams and Hopes Orphanage and travels to the bizarre world of Marzipan Mountain, where he befriends some amazing creatures. With the help of his friends, Timothy seeks to discover his true origins and returns to the Orphanage. He becomes embroiled in a matter of life and death and faces the evil forces that crave the secret of ‘Golden Life’.

My Thoughts:

I read about 10 chapters of this before I gave up. I didn’t give up because of the writing style or anything majorly critical, it just wasn’t the book for me. The book was considered as Young Adult, but I found it to be far too young for me. The first chapters contain a talking mouse, and it was all just a bit too ‘not real’ for me. I think this book would be OK for reading to a younger child, or a say 10 – 14 year reading themselves, but its not adult reading material. (In my opinion).

The story begins with an orphan boy escaping from his orphanage, he survives a plane crash and this is where the mouse character comes into the story, the mouse describes the plane as a “biggertybig, blackertyblack bird”. The Author’s descriptive words are excellent, and I think a child could really be drawn into this story having a love for Timothy and really rooting for him to finish his quest and be happy and safe. 

Each chapter has a title as well as a number, for example:

Chapter Seven. The Place of Who-Knows-Where. 

The book struck me as fantasy and fairy tale. I can’t really say too much more about the book, but if you have read the book and enjoyed it, I’d love to hear from you. You can even tell me the ending of where Timothy ends up, as sadly I won’t be reading it.  

** Note to other bookbloggers:

Wow, my first DNF as a reviewer, I have to say I’m glad I wrote it as I was feeling sad that I had been given this copy and not written anything, so there it is. Do you as a bookblogger write reviews of your DNF? Do you feel sad about it or do you always finish the books you start? I’d be intrigued to know how other bloggers react in this situation?

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