Liesl & Po

I might give the print book 4 stars but Jim Dale knocks the audio up to 5 stars.

Normally when I listen to audiobooks on long trips I take little breaks between discs to listen to music or something else, but I listened to this straight through. I also had an anxiety tummy ache for like the last half of it and then I messy cried through pretty much the whole last disc. SO MANY FEELINGS!!

It's about a girl and a ghost and a boy and an alchemist and an adventure but mostly it's about family and grief and acceptance and FEELINGS.

And ghosts.

I had higher hopes for this book. It sounded like such a great slightly supernatural (ghost) story of friendship surpassing boundaries. It is about a ghost (who is both/neither boy or girl) and a girl who become friends which I did like, but couldn't get behind 100%. I liked Liesl and Po but I didn't really buy into their friendship as written since SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER Po seemed so indifferent to Lisel at points until he/she was in the living world more and then Po would back slide somewhat to indifference. There were qualities of this book that I enjoyed and believe a certain type of child, teen or adult would also enjoy it. Unfortunately the qualities I did enjoy were fewer than I expected so I had to only give it 3 stars.

I picked this up on whim at Barcelona Airport, and initially I thought it might be the kind of nice children's book that's equally suitable for adults.

I liked the writing style and the main (child) characters, and the book features a rather original concept of what ghosts are and how they work.

However, the adult characters tend to be simple and predictable, and I found the story development rather weak by the end.

This seems odd, because the author doesn't talk down to her readers in her writing style, but she serves up characters and story more lazily constructed than I think she would do for adult readers.

To my mind, a good writer for children creates characters and plot sufficiently complex and interesting to engage an adult reader. I think Lauren Oliver has the capability to be such a writer, but on this occasion she doesn't seem to have thought it necessary to make the effort.

This book is pleasant and might delight some children. It's readable by adults if you don't expect too much.

A sweet & fun story. You can read my full review at http://knowitnotsomuch.blogspot.com/2013/01/liesl-po.html

My thoughts

Cover:It's a decent one.Like the gold cover.Bummer that was the only likable thing for me.

Book:It never was on my wishlist.I got a hint from Booksake[check them out, there awesome book reviewers] that it was a free read at Harpercollins.com. Not a complete disappointment for me. I still wanted to know what Liesl and Po would encounter on their travels.I never bash an author.This review includes my honest opinions.

This middle grade has gotten a lot of hype and was not that interested.It was a free read.Nothing to loose.Liesl and po is sad and dreary read.That was not a problem for me

But the bland writing and worldbuilding and characters were the reason for the two star rating. I felt no connection to the characters except bundle a cat-dog like shadow creature and it does not even talk or a lot of ‘‘screen time'‘
from the official website. i do have to say great art for a middle grade

Liesl and Po was not for me and I'm now less likely to read deleruim and pandemonium.Don't let me deter you to read liesl and po.You may love it