Review: Giants Beware by Jorge Aguirre

SUMMARY FROM NETGALLEY.COM:

Make way for Claudette the giant slayer in this delightful, fantastical adventure!

Claudette’s fondest wish is to slay a giant. But her village is so safe and quiet! What’s a future giant slayer to do?

With her best friend Marie (an aspiring princess), and her brother Gaston (a pastry-chef-to-be), Claudette embarks on a super-secret quest to find a giant—without parental permission. Can they find and defeat the giant before their parents find them and drag them back home?

MY TAKE:

I've always been a fan of strong heroines. There are too few of them, in my opinion, so Giants Beware! is a welcome addition to the world of (children's) books.

Like Lady Alanna and Lady Kel from Tamora Pierce's Tortall, Claudette is a brave girl who thirsts for adventure. When I first saw her on the cover, I thought Claudette was a boy. She looks quite boyish with her short hair and tunic.

Claudette is a tough-as-nails girl who doesn't back down from bullies who try to hurt her, her friend Marie or her little brother Gaston. Gaston is by far my favorite character, because he's a cutie pie who wants to be a pastry chef. He reminds me of those kids on Junior Masterchef. Too bad there are no recipes at the end of the book for the dishes he comes up with, because they sound delicious. Aside from becoming a pastry chef, Gaston also wants to make swords. It may sound a little weird to be a pastry chef/swordsmith, but I think it's a brilliant idea to add this to the storyline. When we were kids, we had lots of dreams and we knew that you can have more than one dream come true at a time. Some of us forget that as we grow older.

The authors should definitely consider shopping this around to networks like Nickelodeon or the Disney Channel, because this has all the elements needed to make a hit television series for both pre-teens and adults alike.

Thanks to NetGalley and First Second for the e-copy. Publication date of Giants Beware! is on April 10, 2012.

THE GOOD:

1. Interesting characters. All the characters are interesting, charming and funny.
2. Drawing style. The drawing style is cute and makes me feel like I'm watching cartoons.
3. Story. The story isn't just about one character, and there are virtually no cliches here.

THE BAD:

1. There are weird thin white lines on the pages. I'm not sure if this will appear in the finished product, but this is probably just a product of scanning the pages.

FAVORITE QUOTE/S:

READ IT IF:

1. You like strong heroines.
2. You want a good quest story that doesn't follow the usual formula.
3. You want an entertaining read that doesn't take too long to finish.

RATING:

SOUNDS INTERESTING?