Facing the Hunchback of Notre Dame by L.L. Samson

About the book:

A hidden attic. A classic story. A very unexpected twist. Twin twelve-year-old bookworms Ophelia and Linus Easterday discover a hidden attic that once belonged to a mad scientist. While relaxing in the attic and enjoying her latest book, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Ophelia dozes off, and within moments finds herself facing a fully alive and completely bewildered Quasimodo. Ophelia and Linus team up with a clever neighbor, a hippy priest, and a college custodian, learning Quasimodo's story while searching for some way to get him back home-if he can survive long enough in the modern world.

My Review:

Let me start by saying that I love middle grade books! This book is written well and I enjoyed that it was told from an outsider’s point of view, a janitor.  It was nice how the narrator explained words that a middle grader normally wouldn’t have understood and the way he did it was quite entertaining!  The narrator is my favorite character in the story and he isn’t actually in the story, he just tells it. The story itself is interesting with Quasimodo appearing right before Ophelia’s eyes and she has to figure out how to get him back to his “world” safely. 

I liked the premise of the book but I felt that the story lacked some excitement to keep me wanting to read it.  I could put the book down and walk away from the story without the pull to read more.  I wanted more information from the ending; I think the author leaves it this way intentionally so that there can be another story to tell.   My one big issue; the story summary says the twins are 12 and in the book they are 14.  So is this a typo in the summary or are they trying to market to middle graders and YA readers?  This is definitely something that should be addressed.  Overall it is a nice read but it just didn’t “wow” me.

I received this book as an e-arc from netgalley.  I was under no obligation to review it.

You can pick up the paperback or ebook version via Zondervan here.

You can pick up the paperback  via version here. 

You can pick up the Kindle version here.

You can pick up the paperback via Barnes and Noble here.  

You can pick up the Nook version here. 

Happy Reading!!!