Do you judge a book by its cover?
This book received a lot of buzz prior to its publication because its cover was so undisputedly amazing. With its stretched, sharply serifed type, cut-out illustrations, and darkly muted color palette, the packaging of Wink Poppy Midnight was making everyone ga-ga. Add onto that the cool title and the success of the anthology Slasher Girls and Monster Boys, which Tucholke edited, and bloggers were hot to get ahold of this novel.
After the release, however, the reactions seemed to be mostly lackluster. Reviewers weren't responding well to the book. Because of this, I was expecting to be disappointed. Maybe it because my bar was so low, but I wound up liking Wink Poppy Midnight, enough to give it 3.5 stars. (The cover gets full marks, of course.)
Beyond the Packaging of Wink Poppy Midnight
The novel is character-driven, as can be expected — the book's title is the three narrator's names, strung together. Midnight is a lovely-faced, teenage boy who is experiencing a lot of growing pains. He's been infatuated with his beautiful, yet cruel neighbor, Poppy, for as long as he's known her, but when his family moves across town, Midnight sees an opportunity to leave the mean girl in the dust. Helping him along is Wink, the mystical eldest daughter of the Bells, a family renown for their fortitude. Poppy, however, won't be forgotten.
What happens next is... sort of a muddle, but it's a nicely written muddle. Many reindeer games are played and there's a lot of mystery over who's calling the shots. Is manipulative Poppy in control? Or is Midnight coming into his own power? And what about Wink — you know what they say about the quiet ones.
I suppose my main criticism with Wink Poppy Midnight is that it flirts with pointlessness. There was a huge WHO CARES?! cliff that I almost fell into throughout the whole novel. If you happen to not respond well the characters, Wink Poppy Midnight won't have a leg to stand on. As it turned out, I was ambivalent towards Wink and Midnight, but I kept listening to the audiobook because of Poppy. I loved her fierce character.
I can't see Wink Poppy Midnight being a book that everyone loves, so I hesitate to recommend it. Nevertheless, the novel has given me plenty to think about. [rating stars="three-half-stars"]
THAT COVER!! I so agree with you and the rest of the blogging world! :( That just goes to show you that we should never, EVER judge a book by its cover because I don't think I've read one GOOD review about this book :( it's sad because the way it's presented, you just KNOOWWW it's going to be a good book about magic , adventure and stuff... at least that's what I thought? =/
ReplyDeleteI hope your next read is better, lovely! <3
I think if an author can make you think, good or bad, then they have succeeded. ;) And as much as I hate to admit it, I still pick books up based on the cover.
ReplyDeleteI've heard people say the book is confusing as hell? I have a copy but not sure I'll read it. It'll just look pretty on my shelf :P
ReplyDeleteIt's beauuuutiful, isn't it? And yes, I don't think I've read a single glowing review over this book. Even I who, kind of liked it, wouldn't give it a glowing one.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely choose books based off of the cover as well! Which is why I think it's important for the cover to reflect the book inside.
ReplyDeleteI want a poster of this cover! That, or the physical book will do. :D
ReplyDeleteWell, I'm glad you were able to sort through the muddle. I've been discouraged by the amount of head scratching amongst bloggers. It's not been a pleasant experience for most, I tell ya.
ReplyDeleteI'm really interested in finding out for myself about this one - I've heard a lot of mixed reviews like you mentioned. Great review - this is my first official comment of the challenge! :)
ReplyDeleteI love that you want to find out for yourself! I think with a book with mixed reviews, that's important, to make your own mind. Especially since we're reviewers!
ReplyDeleteI did sort through it. I have this tendency to try to make sense of complicated books, movies, tv shows, and try to figure out the theme. I think Wink Poppy Midnight actually had a surprisingly distinct one. It just took a long while for it to become apparent, but once it was, it shone like a strobe.
ReplyDeleteI first read AGT when I picked up Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea. I remember the atmosphere of the book being nice and eerie, but that it ultimately was missing something when I finished. It was a good read, but nothing spectacular enough to get me to pick up the sequel. And, as you know, I read SG+MB. I liked her story, but I could tell what was going to happen a mile away. So, for me she'd been a bit of a hit or miss author.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I've seen A TON of people review Wink, Poppy, Midnight and the views are overwhelmingly positive. I hear the narrative is what really makes the book shine. I have to admit, I'm curious. Might be a while before I can get to it, though. Especially with Throwback Thursday coming up next month. (You're still wanting to participate, right? I can't wait to see what books you liked back in the day. ^-^)
Sorry I've taken a while to get back to you! Life, man. But thanks for sharing your thoughts on Tucholke. I haven't read her first two books, but I like how she has a definitely dark/supernatural theme running through her books, and I love how she brought us the SG+MB anthology. I'd be very interested to see what you think of WPM. And I definitely plan on posting a Throwback Thursday post... THIS WEEK! LOL, I need to get my act together.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't really seen any review, so this is interesting. Maybe I'll try it on audio.
ReplyDeleteI listened to it on audio, and I LOVED it! I definitely wanna hear your take on Poppy's narrator. I loved her, but I could see how others might not.
ReplyDelete[…] Ellen reviewed it a little more favorably than I. Here is a link to her review. […]
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