Matthias is the youngest member of the Redwall Abbey, a home to a group of tranquil mice with a love for nature. Their peaceful nature is tested when Cluny the Scourge decides to attack the Abbey.
Ok, so this is a wildly popular and nostalgic series for a lot of people. I remember reading it because it was worth a lot of AR (accelerated reading) points. Side note: Who remembers AR? Just me? Alright. Anyway, I didn’t know, and still don’t know how I feel. I said on Twitter that it reminds me of a bad 80’s cartoon. Which I kind of LOVE! I’ll admit animal protagonist aren’t really my thing, looking at you Watership Down, but these were really enjoyable to get to know. Each character from the Abbey was so lovable and really trying to figure out how to best help the cause.
Redwall is a chosen one plot and things progress as expected. This is a fantasy that doesn’t have any real magic in it, but the story is steeped in lore and there are talking mice. There is a quest and hilarious side characters. A couple of mini “bosses” and then Cluny is the big bad villain. Also, this is surprisingly brutal for a middle grade book. Jaques doesn’t shy away from killing characters and showing brutality on page.
The pacing *sigh.* It’s so slloooowwww!!! I felt I was reading this book FOREVER! Like I have never taken so long to read a middle grade. While the majority was interesting there were some parts that felt pointless. You can tell the author wanted to balance plot and characters, and he mostly succeeded. Since this is an exteremly long series, I have a feeling any worldbuilding questions will be answered in subsequent books.
Soooo, will I continue? I already bought the next book. Here’s the thing, this wasn’t my absolute fav, but I’m invested enough in the characters and world to want to continue.
Have you read these? Let’s chat in the comments.
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Yeah, it’s a slow series and super formulaic. If you’re just trying to follow a plot line, I think there’s only like 5 books in the series you actually need to read, and the rest are just about in-world trivia.
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