Series: Castle Glower
Author: Jessica Day George
Age group: 8 - 12
Page count: 272 pages
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Summary from Amazon:
Jessica Day George's magical bestselling series comes to a rousing conclusion as Celie and her family set sea on a grand ship made in the likeness of their beloved Castle!
There is never a dull moment for Celie and her family in Castle Glower--even when they're not in the Castle itself! After traveling to the seaside kingdom of Lilah's betrothed prince, Lulath, Celie and her companions are busy training griffins, enjoying wedding festivities, and finishing construction of a grand ship built from parts of the Castle. But on their maiden voyage, the Ship steers them far off course into uncharted waters. Celie and Lilah hope that the Ship is taking them to the ancient island where unicorns once roamed, but as the journey grows longer and supplies run low, they are in trouble. Celie, Lilah, and Rolf know they must trust the Ship as they trust the Castle, but what if they never reach land again?
The characters face relatable conflicts. When they run out of supplies, they think their way through the problem and are resourceful. They aren't afraid to use magic, which some people are afraid of. They worked together as a family and cared about each other.
The building of the Ship was fun for me, because they believed what they were doing was right. They wanted it a certain way, and would go to great lengths to achieve it.
Another thing I really liked was that the characters wanted peace. They wanted to discover what was wrong, what they could do to make it better and how to resolve things.
I think the entire series will be a fun read for elementary school children. However, from my point of view, it seemed a little off. I missed Castle Glower, just like all the characters. The Ship tried to make up for it, but I didn't feel like I could connect with it.
Compared to the other books, this book is boring. There is plenty of action and adventure to satisfy young readers, but the plot was boring to me. They were on a ship, had no idea where they were heading, and were running out of supplies. All they seem to do is worry and make plans that become foiled. When something exciting happens, the characters seem to find the negative side in everything. I could not relate to the characters because of that. Saturdays at Sea does not live up to the high standard the rest of the series set.
Although Celie was a relatable, fun and optimistic character who had faith in the future, sometimes she seemed like a whiny child. She complains about feeling excluded. She feels that she is only wanted when something is wrong with the Ship. I understand how she feels, but I don't think it gives her a good motive to act like that. Her attitude towards being excluded put me off the rest of the story. I feel that I could've accepted her behavior more if the author made it seem like she actually was being excluded. She seemed to be involved all the time.
One final thing that distracted me from enjoying the story was the romance. Celie is teased multiple times about liking somebody, and there are a lot of hints. However, the author fails to wrap that romance up. I feel that the final book in the Castle Glower series should put that foot forward.
There were so many little things that didn't get resolved, and I'm disappointed with that.
I'm giving Saturdays at Sea a six out of ten. It was a great book. I know lots of people will enjoy it, but I don't think it's the one for me. I really wanted to like it, and I'm sad I didn't enjoy it that much. However, I look forward to other books that Jessica Day George will publish!
Author bio:
Taken from Amazon. Her website is below. Click the button to go it!
Have fun! For more book reviews, click the link below to go to Shannon Messenger's website.
Bye,
Vi