Cobwebs [Paperback]

Karen Romano Young (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Greenwillow (2004)
• ASIN: B000OEEQW0
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thoroughly reccomended, November 29, 2004

By 

Jess "a writer and reader" (NY, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cobwebs (Hardcover)

I picked up Cobwebs randomly in B&N, being rushed out of the store by my mother, and I am too pleased that I happened to choose this book.

The protagonist, Nancy, is a wonderfully drawn character, the kind every teenage girl can identify with, despite her remarkably different problems than the average teenager.

Dion, the boy who haunts playgrounds and rooftops in Brooklyn and has a growing interest in Nancy, is also a beautifully developed character who intrigues the reader.

The plot is spun as tightly, seamlessly and intricately as the spider webs it revolves around, twisting real-life Brooklyn with fantasy, involving spiders and angels, journalists and healers, among much else.

Not only is the story captivating and the characters realistic and interesting, the prose is lovely, with a soft touch to it, dulling the edges, so to speak, and making the novel "feel" more like a fantasy novel even as it describes the rough-and-tough, teenager-confusing lives of Brooklynites Nancy and Dion, as well as their families.

Two days after gobbling this book in one gulp, I am still carrying it around and rereading passages--this book grabs you and doesn't let you go! Read it now, or you will be sorry!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brooklyn from the Rooftops, September 4, 2004

By 

Alison James "author" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cobwebs (Hardcover)

An edgy 'coming into herself' story with a twist -- Cobwebs creates a parallel universe out of Brooklyn, a place of rooftops and water towers, of angels who protect strangers and romance between a tender-hearted skinhead and a dark, tangled girl who tromps the streets in her Doc Martins because she can't fly. This marvel of a book is magic realism at its best.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Completely Stunning Book, July 16, 2006

By 

Cadence "Young and Cynical" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cobwebs (Hardcover)

I was shocked to see how many poor customer reviews this book has recieved, then I actually read them, and I realized why.

Cobwebs is the curl-up-under-the-covers kind of book that only true readers can appreciate. You have to ignore the fact that the book is a little bizarre, because that makes it all the more enjoyable. If you're looking for something along the lines of "The Sisterhood Of The Travelling Pants" or "TTYL" don't even bother with this book. Its deep, poetic prose and mysterious plot leave a lot to the imagination. Sadly, not everyone is turned on to a book because of that.

Cobwebs has also been called "confusing" or "weird". It is neither. It is simply a book written by an author who saw another way around the generic "girly-girly" books that female readers seem so captivated by. Nancy and Dion's relationship is not what you would expect of two teenagers, and all the characters have an old-timey appeal which is completely beautiful.

Cobwebs made me cry, but it also made me think deeply, which is the sign of a great book. If you have an imagination and if you are open to something more than your average book, read Cobwebs.