JULY 2019 - AudioFile
Narrator Thom Rivera’s relaxed tone and Spanish accent are a perfect complement to this audiobook based on Guillermo del Toro’s movie of the same name. As Ofelia completes the tasks given to her by the faun of the labyrinth in order to reunite with her true family, Rivera voices her with high, breathy tones and the confidence of a child who is trying to prove herself. The faun’s voice is growling and rough with age, and Rivera characterizes him with an emphasis on his vanity. Captain Vidal’s cruel personality is accentuated with a deep and quickened delivery. Rivera’s masterful pacing will keep listeners on edge in this dark and eerie modern fairy tale. A.K.R. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine
Publishers Weekly
06/24/2019
In this dark fantasy, Funke (the Inkheart trilogy) revisits Pan’s Labyrinth, del Toro’s acclaimed 2006 film in which a girl undergoes a series of fairy tale–inspired tasks set against the backdrop of 1944 Spain. Ofelia, 13, must adjust to her new surroundings after she and her pregnant mother move to the north of Spain to live with her new stepfather, the evil Capitan Vidal, who is obsessed with hunting down local resistance fighters. Then, the mysterious Faun visits Ofelia and informs her that she is the long-missing daughter of the Underworld’s king. In order to return home, she must prove her worth by completing three tasks. The film’s storyline interwove Ofelia’s challenges in a mythical labyrinth with scenes in the real world, and Funke’s expansion reveals further backstory through a series of fairy tale vignettes touching upon relevant people, items, and themes, including the enigmatic Faun who sets everything in motion and Capitan Vidal’s prized razor. Fans of the film will enjoy this in-depth exploration and reimagining of the source material, while newcomers will have no trouble getting into the story, though its dark themes and occasional gruesome scenes aren’t for the faint-hearted. Ages 14–up. (July)
From the Publisher
★“Charged with the monumental task of adapting an intricate film to the page, del Toro (The Shape of Water, 2018, etc.) and Funke (The Griffin’s Feather, 2018, etc.) have avoided merely describing the film and instead have elegantly recrafted the narrative…. Dark and mesmerizing.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
★“Reminiscent of C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia series and Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, this creatively cryptic tale will enchant readers who delight in fantasy.” — School Library Journal (starred review)
★“A richly told story that blends fairy tale magic and historical tragedy to create an eerie, chilling look at the many faces of evil.” — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books (starred review)
“Funke maintains the tale’s dark beauty, filling it with imaginative details, complex characters, love, and history, as well as humanity’s evils. With pages hauntingly framed in trees and gorgeous full-page illustrations, this book will creep into the minds and hearts of readers and linger there.” — ALA Booklist
“Fans of the film will enjoy this in-depth exploration and reimagining of the source material, while newcomers will have no trouble getting into the story, though its dark themes and occasional gruesome scenes aren’t for the faint-hearted.” — Publishers Weekly
“Perfectly unsettling and deeply felt, this reminded me of the best kind of fairytales wherein each chapter is a jewel that, when held up to the light, reframes how we see the world around us.” — Roshani Chokshi, New York Times bestselling author of The Star-Touched Queen & Aru Shah and the End of Time
“A fearless and moving adaption of the film, and a gorgeously-written, emotional, frightening parable about the courage of young women amid the brutality of war.” — Michael Grant, New York Times bestselling author of Gone
Michael Grant
A fearless and moving adaption of the film, and a gorgeously-written, emotional, frightening parable about the courage of young women amid the brutality of war.
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books (starred review)
★“A richly told story that blends fairy tale magic and historical tragedy to create an eerie, chilling look at the many faces of evil.
ALA Booklist
Funke maintains the tale’s dark beauty, filling it with imaginative details, complex characters, love, and history, as well as humanity’s evils. With pages hauntingly framed in trees and gorgeous full-page illustrations, this book will creep into the minds and hearts of readers and linger there.
Roshani Chokshi
Perfectly unsettling and deeply felt, this reminded me of the best kind of fairytales wherein each chapter is a jewel that, when held up to the light, reframes how we see the world around us.
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books (starred review)
★“A richly told story that blends fairy tale magic and historical tragedy to create an eerie, chilling look at the many faces of evil.
School Library Journal
★ 05/01/2019
Gr 6–9–Master storyteller Funke and critically acclaimed director del Toro have woven a tale of greed, bravery, and sacrifice inspired by the Oscar-winning film. In 1944, 13-year-old Ofelia and her pregnant mother, Carmen, have come to live with her mother's new husband in a forest north of Spain. Ofelia is afraid of her new stepfather, whom she has nicknamed "The Wolf." She worries that he will hurt her mother. When they have almost reached her new home, she encounters a small twiglike creature that she knows immediately is actually a fairy. Ofelia is correct, as the strange fairy returns later on. She follows it through the forest, where she meets a half-man, half-goat creature, the Faun. He tells her that she is the reincarnation of an Underworld princess but her memories were erased by the sun. Ofelia's true father, the king of the Underworld, has left portals open all over the word so she can return to him. It has been so long since she left, there is only one portal still open. Ofelia must pass a series of tests before she is allowed to return to the Underworld. Readers will easily relate to Ofelia's fears and applaud her bravery. Imaginative vignettes and black-and-white illustrations add depth to the narrative. Hand to fans of the movie, but also expect to engender new devotees with such captivating lore. VERDICT Reminiscent of C.S. Lewis's "Chronicles of Narnia" series and Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, this creatively cryptic tale will enchant readers who delight in fantasy.—Julie Shatterly, W. A. Bess Elementary School, Gastonia, NC
JULY 2019 - AudioFile
Narrator Thom Rivera’s relaxed tone and Spanish accent are a perfect complement to this audiobook based on Guillermo del Toro’s movie of the same name. As Ofelia completes the tasks given to her by the faun of the labyrinth in order to reunite with her true family, Rivera voices her with high, breathy tones and the confidence of a child who is trying to prove herself. The faun’s voice is growling and rough with age, and Rivera characterizes him with an emphasis on his vanity. Captain Vidal’s cruel personality is accentuated with a deep and quickened delivery. Rivera’s masterful pacing will keep listeners on edge in this dark and eerie modern fairy tale. A.K.R. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2019-04-22
A young girl is swept into the dangerous world of fairies and magic in war-torn Spain in a collaborative tale inspired by the noted film.
With the death of her father, her mother's marriage to a stoic military captain, and the imminent arrival of a baby brother, 13-year-old Ofelia's world has been turned upside down. But once upturned, Ofelia discovers a world beneath her own that seems straight out of her favorite fairy tales—an Underground Kingdom with magic, fairies, and a faun whose princess has been missing for centuries. The faun explains that Ofelia is their princess reincarnated, but to return to her throne, she must complete three tasks before the next full moon. But as her mother's health rapidly declines and the captain's cruelty spreads like a deadly fume, a giant toad and grotesque child eater aren't the only monsters Ofelia must face. Charged with the monumental task of adapting an intricate film to the page, del Toro (The Shape of Water, 2018, etc.) and Funke (The Griffin's Feather, 2018, etc.) have avoided merely describing the film and instead have elegantly recrafted the narrative. Brief, interspersed tales that stitch together several characters' backstories deepen and add greater complexity to the plot while also shrinking the original story's ambiguous gap between fantasy and reality. Spot art based on the film's concept art accompanies each of the tales, helping to both offset and connect them.
Dark and mesmerizing. (Dark fantasy. 12-18)
