Customer Reviews

The Leap

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is the second novel written by Jonathan Stroud, the author of the Bartimaeus trilogy (The Amulet of Samarkand, The Golem's Eye, and Ptolemy's Gate). As with Stroud's other books, this book contains some sophisticated themes.

The novel tells the story of a young girl, Charlie (short for Charlotte), who witnesses the drowning death of her best friend, Max. She tries to save him, but is stopped in her rescue attempt by other-worldly forces. When Charlie tells her story, nobody believes her but think she is suffering delusions due to her recent trauma.

In the meantime, Charlie dreams of Max and is convinced that he is still alive. She vows to find him in her dreams and rescue him.

This book contains a similar narrative device to the one Stroud uses in "Amulet". The first-person narrative point-of-view switches between Charlie and her older brother James. It was confusing at first, because unlike "Amulet" there are no chapter titles telling you who's currently telling the story. However, once you figure out what's going on, it's an effective method of telling what's going on inside Charlie and James' heads.

The story is a supernatural one where Charlie travels in an alternate world in her dreams. Stroud is adept at creating suspense and immersing you in exciting action scenes when you can't take the suspense any more.

Like "Buried Fire", the ending seems a little abrupt, but it is satisfying. Maybe I just thought it was abrupt because I didn't want the story to end! What other measure of good writing can there be when the story ends and leaves you wanting more? Highly recommended.

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Losing a friend is one of the greatest traumas a person can have, especially if they somehow feel responsible for the death. Fantasy writer Jonathan Stroud tackled that sensitive topic in "The Leap," an early novel that straddled the boundaries between reality and fantasy.

Charlie nearly died trying to rescue her drowning pal Max, and now she's suffering from her grief and shock. She remembers strange green women dragging him down, yet no one believes her. But things change suddenly when she begins to have strange dreams, of a surreal land where Max is walking in the distance.

In her dreams, Charlie encounters a strange man who tells her that Max is heading toward the Great Fair -- if he joins an alluring magic dance there, he will be lost forever. But the dreams are having a lasting effect on Charlie -- she's waking up with scratches, and thinks she sees wolves from her dream outside her house. Can she save Max, or will she herself be lost in the world of the dead?

It's a credit to Stroud that while including elements of fantasy, he's able to portray grief and guilt so expertly. In fact, as good as the dream sequences are, the detached, erratic behavior that Charlie has in the real world is much, much more compelling.

Stroud alternates between lush, descriptive writing in the dream realm, and more down-to-earth styles when Charlie is awake. And it's deeply affecting when he describes how the loss of Max has hit Charlie, her family, and his grieving parents. The only flaw is that we only get brief glimpses of Max; we never really get to know him.

But Stroud hits the bulls-eye with Charlie and her family -- she's determined to save Max, and not willing to believe that he's gone. And her family is afraid that she's going insane. To keep things grounded, her brother James narrates some chapters, giving an idea of what her family thinks of her strange behavior. James thoughts are as powerful as Charlie's, out of fear that his sister is going bonkers.

Stroud never quite explains whether the "dream world" events are real, but perhaps it's better that he left it that way. In the end, "The Leap" is a powerful tale about grief and love.

An interesting story, but I'm not sure one I really enjoyed.

Being a fan of Stroud's Bartimus series I was looking forward to another good fantasy read, however this effort was much different than what I'd expected. It started out with what seemed like an promising fantasy tale, but gradually turned out to be an increasingly dark psychological thriller.

All in all, this book is well written and has a sense of style, pace and atmosphere. Stroud has the ability to take the reader into a story and I must admit to a feeling of creepy discomfort as I approached the end of this short novel.

A good book, but just not a book that I could classify as one of my favorites. 3-3 1/2 Stars

I read the Bartimaeus Trilogy and Liked it. I read the Buried Fire and Liked it. So I wasn't worried at all when I bought The Leap even after reading some of the reviews.

It's hard enough to move away from your best friends but losing them forever is harder. Jonathan Stroud put those emotions into literature fantastically. The Leap is a wonderful book with Reality and Fantasy. Charlie's best friend Max drowns in a Mill pool and she almost dies trying to rescue him. Most people thought that it was a normal drowning but Charlie remembers green woman pulling him down. She tries to explain that but no one believes her and her mom is afraid she's going mad. Then Charlie gets strange dreams with an ocean, desert, and forest all with her running to find Max, but when she gets cuts and bruises from one dream she realizes her dreams are real. In one dream in the forest Charlie meets a man Kit who tells her that at this time the Great Fair is taking place. If Max joins the great Dance he will become a true inhabitant of the world, forget all about his past life, and will be lost forever. So can she save Max or will she be reunited with him in the world of the dead.

Stroud also puts point of views from Charlie's brother James which strenthens the story line. It also helps that he uses a kind of softer writing style when in Charlie's dreams then when in the real world. I just wish we got to know Max. In the end The Leap is a wonderful tale in the bounderies of Reality and Fantasy.

I had read some of the other books by this author, such as The Bartimaeus Trilogy books and Buried Fire. So I thought to myself, well, I loved the Bartimaeus Trilogy Books, and Buried Fire was okay, so how bad could it be?

The answer... Really Bad

If you have read the Giver, by Lois Lowry, and really liked the way it ended, you might just have a chance at enjoying this book. Unfortunately, I did not. The Leap starts out as an interesting enough story. I really got into it and couldn't put it down. You are led to believe that everything Charlie is dreaming is real, plausable. She seems sane enough, right? So you get wrapped up in her mission, really believing that she just might pull it off. You just want to believe that Max can come back, or that at least Charlie can become part of this other world.

Smack! Wrong again!

Sudenly, it appears that Charlie is just insane, as you see it from her brothers point of view and hers at the same time.
From her point of view, it appears that she screws the whole thing up, and then tries to fix it.
From her brothers, she appears to be getting ready to jump into a pit and kill herself, so he saves her.

Then it ends.

You are left thinking, "Um, sorry if this makes me sound stupid, but I don't get it. Did I miss something?"
There is no explanation, no clue as to what was really going on. It is just, over. Done. Finished.
Did her brother stop her from killing herself, or becoming part of this other world, or both?
Is Charlie insane? Is this all just a figment of her imagination?

The only reason I would ever recomend this book is if someone intended to read it and rewrite the ending just for writing practice, or as example of how NOT to end a book.

Fortunately, I have not lost faith in this writer, because I have read some of his later works and really enjoyed them. I hope you follow in my example and do not judge Jonathan Stroud souly upon this one book.

Okay, Rambling done.

After a Girl losses her best friend. She is in shock. She believes that he was taken by people in the water. But once she starts to have dreams about him, she now really belives that he is still alive. This is a touching book that will make you cry all the way through. Even though the ending could have been more intresting, I rated it a 5 star because of how great the whole book is. Even if you hate the ending, you'll love the begining, and Middle. This is girl has a lot of deterination, and it gies the book life.

Charlie never expected that Max would drown. One minute he was in the tree above the mill pond, and the next he was in the water. Everyone keeps telling Charlie that there was nothing she could have done, that she was a very brave girl for trying to save Max. Everyone thinks she was hallucinating when she saw green haired women in the water kidnap Max. Then Charlie begins having dreams that she is chasing Max through a strange land. Soon, sleep becomes her obsession. She is determined to follow Max, no matter where he leads.

The Leap is not a bad book. It's fairly good, but it pales in comparison to The Bartimaeus Trilogy (also by Jonathan Stroud). Of course, most books pale in comparison to The Bartimaeus Trilogy, so it's not a very fair comparison.

The Leap is told from the point of view of Charlie and her brother, James. The vocabulary is simpler than in The Bartimaeus Trilogy, which makes it easier for younger children to read. Although the subject matter is not as dark as in Bartimaeus, there is little humor to lighten the mood.

There are only really only five characters in the book: Charlie, James, Kit, Max, and Charlie's mom. Charlie and James are both sympathetic characters, but the others aren't very well developed. It's okay that Max isn't described much, because it adds to the whole mystery surrounding him, but it would be nice if the other characters were fleshed out more.

The story took a while to get going, but once it did I absolutely could not put the book down. I know that a lot of people have complained about the ending, but I thought it was fine, though a bit predictable. The ending did feel a little abrupt, but just one extra sentence could have made it more satisfying, and I don't have any major objections to the way the story ended.

The Leap is a good book. It's certainly worth reading if you want to see one of Jonathan Stroud's earlier books, but don't expect another Bartimaeus.

This is a beautiful but painful read, dealing with issues of grief and guilt and friendship in a sensitive book laden with its own special magic. Its a book to leave you thinking at the end too, but a very good read

I ENJOYED THIS BOOK A LOT, THIS TALE TELLS ABOUT HOW CHARLIE'S BEST FRIEND MAX GETS PULLED UNDERWATER BY GREEN GARDIAN WOMAN AND IS USHERED THROUGH A GATEWAY. AFTER HIS DEATH CHARLIE EXPERIANCES WEIRD DREAMS WHERE SHE IS FOLLOWING MAX'S TRAIL INTO A FOREST.AFTER SHE WAKES WITH CUTS FROM WOLVES AND SAND FROM THE OCEAN SHE STARTS TO BELIEVE THE IMPOSSIBLE POSSIBILITY THAT THE DREAMS ARE REAL.NOW SHE IS DETERMINRD TO CATCH UP WITH MAX, BUT WHEN SHE IS CLOSE TO SEE HIM SHE SEEMS TO WAKE UP AND LOSE HIM FROM SIGHT.THE AUTHOR PUTS AN AMAZING TWIST AT THE VERY END OF THE STORY, WHEN SHE FINDS OUT THAT SHE CANT GET HIM BACK TO THE REAL WORLD.BUT STILL SHE HELPS HIM REMEMBER HER AND NOT FALL INTO THE TRANCE OF THE OTHER REALM.

In "The Leap," Jonathan Stroud explores the impacts of the loss of a friend through a compelling fantasy novel.

It is a story of a girl named Charlie, who watches her best friend Max drown right before her eyes. Charlie swears she saw mermaids in the water, pulling Max in, and that they nearly got her too. Of course, no one believes her, but instead thinks she is a psychopath.

After the incident, Charlie has vivid dreams of another world. A world where Max is still alive, and if she can catch him, he will be saved. Charlie's dreams become so lifelike, that they begin to take her over. When she is awake she thinks of nothing but the night ahead, and finding Max.

Stroud uses first person narrative to allow us into the thoughts and dreams of the character, and perhaps to make her intentions more reasonable.

The Leap is a thrilling, suspenseful fantasy novel; great for anyone who loves a fast-paced, well written book.