The Divide

The Divide #1

by Elizabeth Kay

When Felix and his parents visit the Divide in Costa Rica, a place where the waters that run down to the Pacific and Atlantic oceans separate, he faints and wakes to discover an amazing back-to-front world where mythical creatures are real and humans and science are legend.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Fiction, Middle Grade, Childrens, Magic, Adventure

319 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2003

About the author

Elizabeth Kay is the daughter of a Polish father and an English mother. She originally went to art school, and she is also an illustrator. She has an MA in Creative Writing, and does some teaching and editing. During a varied writing career - from radio plays and short stories to poetry and novels for both adults and children - she has won a number of prizes, including the Cardiff International Poetry Competition and the Canongate Prize for short stories. Elizabeth lists as her hobbies travelling to obscure destinations and trying not to get eaten by the local wildlife.

Reviews

[Khanh, first of her name, mother of bunnies · Rating 1 out of 5]

If Harry Potter is the sort of book you give a child to start them on a lifelong love of reading, The Divide is the sort of book you give your child if you want them to spend the rest of their childhood staring at an iPad playing Candy Crush because books are dumb.

It probably makes me a horrible person for hating the shit out of a book in which the main character has a would-be-fatal heart disease and doomed to a young death. I don't even care.

Do you know what a jabbermawibbly is? A ragglegymook? Completely fucking made up names for creatures that should have been fucking commonplace fantasy creatures? Do you want to fucking memorize what it is for fucking hundreds of fucking pages. I can't. I couldn't be fucked to. Here is a list of the creatures in this book and their equivalents in our world (if there are any). Memorize them because you're not gonna fucking know what the fuck they are otherwise.

Brazzle - Griffin
Brittlehorn - Unicorn
Creeepy-biter - No parallel
Cuddyak - No parallel
Diggeluck - Gnome
Fire-breather - Dragon
Flame-bird - Phoenix
Humungally - Elephant
Japergrin - Pixie
Lickit - No parallel
No-horn - Horse
Ragamucky - Brownie
River-fatty - Hippopotamus
Shredddermouth - No parallel
Sinistrom - Devil-hyena
Small-tail - Faun
Tangle-person - Elf
Triple-head - Roc
Vamprey - Vampire
Wise-hoof - Centaur
Worrit - No parallel

So yeah, every single time I fucking read about a Japergrin or a Diggeluk or a Sinistrom, I had to fucking look it up because I CAN'T FUCKING REMEMBER. What the pretentious ass-shittery is this?! A no-horn?! REALLY?! REALLY?!

It is horrible. It is forgettable. 30 minutes after reading the book, I've almost completely forgotten every fucking thing about it. I probably shouldn't curse so much in a children's book review, but who the fuck cares, this book was so fucking bad. I usually take 2 pages of notes for the books I read. I have roughly 10 quotes for this book because it was so fucking dumb and boring and completely unmemorable in every way.

Don't read this book. Just don't.

Some of you may believe that I deliberately read bad books. This is not the case. It IS the case in for this book, why? Here's the story.

During winter break, my sister came home from college. She came up to me with a book and was like "You review books, right? Here's a book you should read. I read it when I was 10, and I thought it was fucking horrible. I want to see what you think."

My sister has always been one of those terrifyingly smart children. She is far more intelligent than I will ever be, and I am constantly in awe of how capable and awesome she is. I love her, I trust her opinion implicitly. Even at 10 years old, she was that smart, and so when she told me this book was going to be horrible, I believe her.

Which is why I read this book. As a favor, knowing it would be bad. And man, baby sis was right. This book is fucking horrible.

The Summary: 13-year old Felix is different. Special. Mostly because he's going to drop dead at any second.

"He's not like other boys," said Felix's mother. "He has a very rare heart condition and an unusual blood type. Sometimes he passes out. We have to be careful."
His eyes were a deep, startling blue, and they seemed too old for the rest of his face.

Felix has a fatal heart disease, and somehow manages to talk his parents into taking him on a trip to the Continental Divide in the middle of fucking nowhere, where he can't get medical help in case he needs it.

Apparently, having no brains runs in the family.

It turns out that his parents don't want to take poor pwecious sick Felix to The Divide after all, so Felix does the amazing brilliant wonderful fantastically thoughtful thing and decides to make a break for it. He runs to the Divide (with a heart condition, brilliant) and then promptly passes out.



In another world, Betony is a different, special girl. She's a tangle-girl, or an elf. She deliberately wears her silken white platinum blonde hair "provocatively" sleek, compared to the tangled (ha!) look the tangle-people prefer. Everyone studies herbology, but Betony has always felt different. She doesn't know a fucking thing about herbology, which sucks, because in running away from home, she encounters a sick unicorn, excuse me, brittlehorn that's dying...

"You're a herbalist then, aren't you, tangle-child? But even your knowledge cannot cure me now."
Betony felt dreadful. She didn't have any knowledge worth speaking of. She neglected her homework, didn't pay attention in class, and even played hooky from time to time.

Which ends up dying BECAUSE BETONY WAS TOO FUCKING SPECIAL TO LEARN HERBOLOGY.

He's dead, thought Betony. Dead. How awful. I couldn't do anything. I was absolutely useless. I find a brittlehorn, and I let him die.

And then she does it again.

"They're going to die," whispered Betony. "There was something in the oatcakes. Oh, who would do such a thing? And why?"
"Do you think it's that Water of Life stuff the flame-bird sang about?"
Betony shook her head. "I don't know. I don't know what to do. I feel so helpless."

Yet another beautiful creature, dead, because Betony always felt like she was too good to learn herbology.YOU WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN SO HELPLESS IF YOU HAD BOTHERED TO GO TO CLASS.

The two special snowflakes meet out of fucking nowhere, they encounter a gryphon, I'm sorry, a brazzle. They have adventures. The end.

Seriously, I can't remember a fucking thing about this book. I do know, however, that it is 3rd person POV, and we get to see the POV of Betony, Felix, some random thing, Betony's brother and sister, Betony's brother and sister's friend, some other random thing, another random thing, and a gryphon.

Excuse me, a brazzle.



The Setting: In any good fantasy, the setting is of the utmost importance. The setting in this book doesn't make any fucking sense. I don't have an idea of what the fucking world looks like. The creatures are so dumb and stupidly named that I can't fucking remember what anything is except for a brazzle and a tangle-thing and a stiffie. Or a stiff horn. Or an unicorn thing. Whatever.

SEE WHAT I MEAN?

This book is just fucking weird. There's no establishment of the magical system.

"Magic's got rules. There are things you can't ever do, like making gold, or changing the seasons, or bringing someone back from the dead."

You like that? That's all the fucking explanation you're ever gonna fucking get. Magic is magic. It's normal in the new world. Science, to them, is a fantasy. They have the same fucking thing, only with different names JUST LIKE THE FUCKING MAGICAL CREATURES. String theory is called knot theory. Pi is a "trifle," and I mean pi as in the 3.14159 thing. It's called a fucking trifle. Fucking spare me, please.

The world is almost not magical at all because magic is so haphazardly used, without any explanation. It doesn't feel fantastic. They have magical carpets, but they also have conference rooms, and shopping centers, and I have no idea what the fuck they look like BECAUSE THERE ARE HARDLY ANY DESCRIPTIONS AT ALL. There are towels that magically dry you. The towels themselves can do magic, like change a person's haircolor, and yet the most magical fucking girl of all, Betony...can't do magic.

"Can you do magic?"
"Not much," Betony confessed. "I hate school."

I can't even analyze the characters or anything because there's fucking nothing to analyze. It was a dull adventure, full of foolishness, nonsense, and characters who are completely forgettable. The side characters are laughable. There is zero character development, zero complexity, and without a doubt, this is the worst fantasy for children that I have ever read.

I didn't even give a shit if the main character ended up dying halfway through the book.

[Arie · Rating 3 out of 5]

During a recent unexpected excursion to the Transfer Station*, I happened to stumble upon their newly appointed Second Hand Shop (yes, the capitals are necessary). When I say "stumble upon", I mean "was forced to wait a full five minutes for the very official lady at the dump entrance to finish her woodenly recited spiel about how we should all visit the Shop in question".

Anyway. It was hideously hot outside, and the air smelled truly awful, and second-hand Shops are not only invariable interesting but also generally shaded and not filled with actual rubbish.

This one, surprisingly, was filled with books. Many books. Good books. I picked up a copy of Norwegian Wood and a lovely study of As You Like It and had to drag myself away from the shuddering shelves as I really should not own more books until I have space to put them. But alas for my poor, overladen shelves/dressers/desks/floorboards - split seconds before the store closed, I also spied this hardcover copy of The Divide and grabbed it on a whim.

This book and I have history, you see. There are distinctive memories of half-sleeping as a childhood teacher read this aloud, my drowsiness caused by how slowly she read and my knowledge that (if only I could get my hands on the book) I would have finished it twice over already, but instead had no idea what was happening in the story.

So, a good decade or dozen or so years later, I grabbed the chance to finish it.

And, to be honest, still don't really know what was happening in the story. Is that made too apparent by how long I've waffled on about the finding of the book? There are silly made-up names for mythical creatures (brazzles? no-horns? really?), and a barely functional system of magic. Politics are mentioned but are utterly nonsensical (in a rather different way to real-world politics, that is) and a blatant attempt to discourage any newly sprouting feelings of capitalism comes across much too heavy-handed. But despite all its flaws, The Divide is fun. Even the unusual cover, divided down the centre (clever, huh?), is more enjoyable than annoying - a strangely lovely feature of design. My memories of the story may be fuzzed by sleep and years and distant fondness but I don't think it too biased to say this is a plenty fun if inconsequential tale for the young'uns.

Just a mild bewildered side-end-note to an equally confused review: Violence. There was some. The tone of the story was so clearly juvenile, aimed at a young audience, that it made the violence utterly shocking. Not so much that it would even be noticeable, I don't think, or worrying, for a younger reader. Seven year old me wouldn't have even blinked an eyelid, and she once cried for hours over an accidentally decapitated praying mantis (- still traumatised, in fact). But seriously, things die here. A lot. And parents are turned to stone for years and years, and corporal punishment (including death-by-burning) seem to be how the justice system is handled, and I did not remember that side of the story at all!

*What the dark side of bureaucracy has deigned to call that place more commonly know as "The Dump" or "The Tip"

[Jonathan Terrington · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book and the subsequent ones are again victims of the magic of having read them as a child and loved them. I discovered from personal experience that a positive experience as a child builds a positive experience for life and a negative experience can prove negative into the future. For instance, books I loved then I still love now. It is because of my negative experience with costumed clowns as a child that I still believe that clowns are the creepiest things in the world.

Anyway that all said I loved this as a younger child and I still have fond memories of it. It featured the idea of two parallel worlds for a younger audience and yet created a story that my parents also liked even my Dad who doesn't read as often as I do and generally doesn't read fantasy style books.

The premise of this book and series follows one boy with a medical condition who passes out across a divide. As a result he ends up in another world. One populated with brownies, gryphons, other fantastical creatures and all sorts of magical items. But where science works in our world, in this one it does not. Which makes science a type of magic in this different world and magic a type of science.

It is partly because of this play on the idea of magic and science that I enjoyed this novel. It is rather aimed at children in its tone and style but it is entertaining and stands as an under-appreciated work of fiction.

I may re-read this in the future. I've already re-read the trilogy at least three times (I got into a faze where I re-read all the good books I had read a lot of times. So I've probably read most of my old favourites 2 to 3 times and maybe even 6 times depending on the book). Either way it remains in my memory as a charming novel that deserves to be better known.

[Arlene · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this when i was like 12, and it was the best thing that my mind had ever read, along with the awesome fact that it's cover opened way different than anything i had ever seen.

[Emi えみ Takami 鷹見 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actual rating: 3.5 stars
Three years ago, my best friend shoved this book in my backpack and made me take it home, along with the rest of the trilogy. She promised me I'd like this series. I put them on my to-read shelf and left them there.

Three years later, I finally pick up the first book. AND IT WAS GOOD. I'm a bit disappointed that I didn't pick up this book sooner. I think I would have liked it more if I was a bit younger.

My main problem with The Divide is that I could not relate to Felix whatsoever. Heck, I related to Snakeweed better that I did Felix.

The world Kay has created is so neat, so different that what I've seen in my 18 years (that's saying something). I especially liked the brittlehorns.

WHICH REMINDS ME. Problem 2 with the book. WHO EATS A STACK OF OAT CAKES LEFT RANDOMLY ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD? I mean, seriously! >< FAIL BETONY.

But for all my whining, I really enjoyed this book. If you have a middle schooler interested in fantasy or if you just have a childish mind, give this book a try!

[Tate · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book and remember after reading it calling all of the mythical creatures what the book called them! I wish I had gotten into the second book...

[Becky · Rating 2 out of 5]

I kinda always wanted to check out this book and see just how good it was because of the odd way the cover opens up. I thought it was a neat gimmick, certainly unique among the children's fantasy novel genre where it's filled with competition, but sadly, the book opening from the middle ended up being the best thing about the book.

The entire time I was reading this book, I was reminded of this comic by XKCD published way back in 2008, which I feel perfectly sums up how I feel about The Divide.



The Divide is a wet fart of a children's fantasy novel where it believes that if you're distracted by the unorthodox way the book opens, the fact that the story keeps checking in-between six different characters, and the made-up, twee little words for both fantasy and regular creatures, you will ignore the fact that the plot is lackluster, the characters are wasted potential, and the villain is so laughably paper thin in execution that I can name Care Bear villains with more nuance and motivation.

The story begins with Felix, an adventurous kid who has suffered from a terminal blood illness and an unusual heart condition his whole life and doesn't have much hope for the future because he knows that he could die at any time. He managed to convince his parents to visit "The Divide", a spot in the Costa Rica wilderness where flowing water separates into both the Pacific and the Atlantic oceans, because he's tired of being cooped up in hospital settings and wants some adventure. His fragile heart then gives out and he falls in the seams between two dimensions and ends up in a fantasy world.

The main character, Felix, is probably the most unique thing about this book because it feels like there's not many stories written about kids with terminal illnesses or heart conditions in children's fantasy novels and I thought that this was a neat twist. The book even brings up the very scary possibilities of Felix not having his medication in the magic land filled with dragons, pixies, fairies, and elves (all named obnoxiously cute names that need a glossary in the front, but we'll get to that) really adds a real world wrinkle to the adventures.

The only problem is, after a while, after some solid pages where Felix wonders about his own fate and how he could die in this magical world and his parents would never find out what happened to him...the book just kinda gets rid of this problem, buries it with some plot conveniences, and then we just don't talk about it until near the very end of the book. Felix doesn't have any medication? Don't worry, a unicorn will lick one of his last remaining pills and immediately figure out what ingredients are inside the pill and then give him a magic potion that will keep him alive for the rest of the book! Felix has an unusual heart condition that could kill him at any time? Hah, silly, we're just going to magic that problem away in the most contrived of ways and it's going to feel super dumb. Felix can pass out from too much exertion? We're not really going to talk about it too much, don't worry!

Felix is not alone on his adventures either. Joining him is Betony, an elf (well, "tangle-person" but come on) that's a really bad herbalist who is bad at herbalism because she doesn't study during class, doesn't want to be a herbalist at all, but doesn't figure out what she actually wants to do until she hangs out in a library for one day near the end of the book and is like "yeah I think this will be my occupation of choice". You know, rather than building up this choice in mind throughout the book through dialogue and showing that she had this hidden interest but it had to be restrained because she was forced to do herbalism studies instead. Hermey the Misfit Elf from the Rankin/Bass Rudolph movie has more character development than her.

Betony just kinda exists to be someone for Felix to talk to, and although there's scenes where they clearly hit it off and become good friends, you'd have to twist my arm to get me to remember any personality traits this character had beyond "she's a girl". Even if she doesn't want to be a herbalist, it would've been really cool if she was the one to figure out the ingredients in Felix's pills and help him. But no, her excuse is always "I didn't study, I know nothing" so other mythical creatures can walk into the scene and do things for her.

Besides Betony, Felix also befriends a griffin (well, "brazzle") named Ironclaw. Ironclaw ends up being the most interesting main character in the book because of the unique way that griffins work in this universe. With brazzles, the males are mathematical geniuses that absolutely love numbers, while the females are skilled historians. Absolutely all griffins think like little supercomputers and talk like pretentious college professors. It's silly, but it's the fun kind of silly, and certainly opens itself up to some fun conversations with the other characters.

Felix, with his trusty band of barely fleshed out friends and a bunch of dialogue fluff where the book is like "this thing is called a flunglepug", have to stop the villainous Snakeweed, an antagonist so cardboard thin, so ridiculously cartoony that Dic Entertainment and Filmation would both be laughing at this caricature of a bad guy.

You see, Snakeweed is eeeeeeevil. Snakeweed wants money! Lots of money! All of the money! Oh man, he has so much money! How does Snakeweed get money? By selling a bunch of fake remedies that weren't properly tested for lots of money, not caring what mythical creatures he kills in the process! He's making lots of money while poisoning a lot of people, and the people who speak up against him are either put in jail or framed for murder because he has two demon dogs at his command. He's got a flashy suit and he makes public appearances and he's a big smart businessman and he looks like he's meant to be a metaphor for capitalism or uncontrolled corporations or the corrupt pharmaceutical industries in our world or the poor practices of animal testing - and that's a wonderful foil for a character that's suffering from a heart condition - but he's so badly written that he doesn't actually say a proper message.

Snakeweed is so badly written that at one point in the book, he tries to convince Felix that he's an ally in the classic "I'm a smooth-talking snake oil salesman that will pretend to be your friend when I'm really using you" way, but then it instantly falls flat on its face when about two pages later he starts screaming at Felix that he's a fraud because his flashlight ran out of batteries and then instantly throws him in a dungeon because I guess evil is impatient. Good job, Snakeweed. You certainly are convincing.

Does Snakeweed have a backstory? No, he's evil. Why is he so rich if all of his remedies have terrible side-effects and can kill creatures like unicorns ("BRITTLEHORNS!" the book screams into your ear) and phoenixes ("FLAME-BIRDS!" the book yells) and other things like that? Because he's evil. People believe him because he's eeeevil. Even with the worst, most insipid cartoon that they put on TV, they bother to give the villain a motivation but with Snakeweed, he just wants MOOOOONEY! I'M EVIL AND A FLAT PIECE OF CARDBOARD, OOOOOO~

Also, he gets away at the end. Because this is a trilogy.

Despite all of the bad things I have to say about this book, and honestly I'm not even scratching the surface of the things I found dumb with this book like how everyone insists that humans are the only creatures who can do science when herbalism and brewing medicine is very much a form a science or how a villain dies by accidentally choking to death on a feather, I'm still giving this book two stars out of five because at the lowest points, at least it offered something entertaining enough that I was able to completely finish it. There were glimmers of potential in this world and in these characters.

And also because the griffin characters are absolutely delightful. Honestly, they might be the only thing keeping this from a one star review. This book is just really, really dumb and I probably won't read books 2 and 3.

Skip it. There are far better books in the children's section than this.

--------

Highlights

*One of the monsters in the book is a talking cartoon dog that is also a demon beast and it basically kills you by telling bad jokes and making you laugh until you die, because it only likes eating the meat of people who died by laughing to death. This is a creative idea and therefore completely deserving of a silly name that goes in the glossary at the front of the book. Sadly, this concept very quickly disappears very early on in the book.

*When unicorns are about to die, their horn hurts. Which is...odd.

*The people in this book use dragons like airplanes, complete with their own airports and talk about things like turbulence, which is kinda cute but also creates so many questions that are left unanswered.

*The main villain is defeated because Felix helps this world invent the printing press and he's defeated through journalism. On its own, it's fine, but a couple times during the novel the book has to step aside and be like "what has Felix unleashed upon this poor fairytale world" when this awful news causes someone to burn some buildings down in protest. Like Snakeweed as a character, this book comes close to saying a message without actually saying anything noteworthy.

*There's talking crocodiles in this book and there's a plot thread on how they're sad that a species of fairy isn't throwing their dead into the moat and they might starve to death because they feed exclusively on the flesh of already dead elf, and the talking crocodiles want word to get out or else they'll go extinct. This book is kinda full of plot threads like this. Almost as if Felix defeating the main villain was stretched kinda thin and they needed more fluff to pad the book out.

*The main villain in this book is a snake oil salesman named Snakeweed. This really needs to be highlighted.

[Yma · Rating 4 out of 5]

First book of the series. Found this at the library and, as one should, I judged the book by its cover. I wish I could add images to these reviews because the cover is really cool. Let me try describing it - The front cover is actually two lateral halves that open on both sides of the book. Hopefully that makes sense. Ok enough about the cover and more about the book itself.

I found it to be a cute, adventure-filled childrens book filled with magic and mythical creatures. But there's just one problem - Our main character's cardiac, terminal illness is catching up to him and he needs the help of these mythical creatures in a dimension where human beings are fables. Most of these creatures come to his aid while a few are determined to ruin him.

I gave it 4 stars because I found it to be quite nostalgic, but also quite predictable in the overall plot of the book.

[Aurelia Giurgiu · Rating 4 out of 5]

O carte foarte potrivita pt adolescenti si nu numai. O recomand

[Mathew · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Felix, a young lad who heart is weak and whose life is close to ending, finds himself transported to a strange world which is both familiar and yet completely unfamiliar, he must fight against time to get back to his own world whilst saving the one he is in.
In this world of magic, Felix befriends an elven girl named Betony who shares its inhabitants and skills with magic whilst he, in turn, shares his knowledge of science. Both find similarities with their mythologies and both could, irrevocably, change their worlds with this knowledge.
I found the book to be very well structured and although there is a large host of central characters, their introduction is well paced and carefully considered. I thought the fact that the beastiary of Betony's world was so close to our own mythology such a clever move from Kay and her knowledge of this other world just as convincing as Rowling's. This book could open up a new and exciting reading experience for that fluent reader.

[Aman Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

i’m not gonna lie, when i first started reading it i was like “wtf is this?” i thought it was pretty stupid at first. but it got hella better over time. plenty of character growth, world building, nice plot. very good. it is slow, but it’s like the right amount of slow if that makes any sense at all. if you like getting wrapped up in other worlds, then this is definitely a book you should consider reading. it is NOT the best fantasy book around, however like i said before, very good.

[Natalie Ramirez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Was mild book.

[Cora · Rating 4 out of 5]

A boy with a serious heart condition goes on vacation to Costa Rica where he wants to see the continental divide. While there he passes out, as his condition causes him to do often, but when he awakens he finds himself in a different world where unicorns, elves and magic are real and humans and science are the things of myth. This was a fun book. It was well suited for the young side of the young adult spectrum. I love the idea of the world and all of the mythical creatures. It was a fun twist to have humans be the mythical creature. The social commentary was a little obvious but well suited for the age group it targets. It brought up issues of medical ethics, the power and responsibility of the press, and making your own destiny that would be good discussions to continue with kids that have read the book. I would recommend this to young teens or tweens that enjoy magical worlds.

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is an uncomfy mixture between fable and children's fantasy book that didn't really work for me at all. It starts really strong, the premise being nothing short of brilliant but then soon becomes cliché trodden in a CS Lewis kind of way. The one thing that could have redeemed it, Felix the main protagonist who is a boy constantly on the verge of death due to a congenital heart condition, simply didn't. The author totally failed to make me feel with Felix. On the contrary I got really cheesed off with having his feelings explained to me all the time rather than allowing me to feel with him. One could argue this is because I am a grown up reading a kids' book but I remember my 10-year-old self pretty clearly and she would have thrown this at the wall feeling patronised rather than drawn into the story.

[Serenity · Rating 5 out of 5]

(This is my first time reviewing, so bear with me, and if it's too short, please spare my life. :'( )

I haven't read The Divide in a long time; being the last time I read it was when I was barely 9. Nonetheless, I do remembering it being a sensational book, and one of my absolute favorites.
However, I also remember being a hardcore fan of the Enid Blyton books, so I don't trust my childhood instincts that much.
The Divide introduced me to the wonderful and magical world of folklore and fantasy, and I'm so glad it did, because it inspired me to write those rather awesome stories in English class...
Eh... I'll read The Divide again, soon, and maybe I'll come back to change this review into something more decent.

[E. Jamieson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Forgot how purely wonderful this story is. I haven't read it in years.

[Lizzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely adored this as a kid!! I'm a Harry Potter kid and this has magic and suspense and thrilling action. Wonderful small series!

[AilsaOD · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was my second attempt at reading this book - I bought it from a charity shop at least seven years ago, intrigued by the unusually shaped cover and the rainforest setting it opens with. I then read the first couple chapters, lost interest and promptly forgot about it and it sat on my unread book pile until now.

This time round I almost did the same again! The book starts well with Felix - a terminally ill child being taken to see the rainforest by his parents. I'm personally not big on stories about terminal illness as I find it depressing (when I was in school we had to read 'My sister's keeper' by Jodi Picoult which was possibly one of the least enjoyable reading experiences I have ever had and it has encouraged me to avoid the subject as best I can). Anyway Felix is in the Costa Rican rainforest and is a right wee know it all about it (to be fair I would be too in that situation - but he is rather precocious) and then once he crosses the divide the rainforest setting is just gone! For the rest of the book we get a fairly vanilla, vaguely european fantasy setting. Which there is nothing inherently wrong with but I wanted - and thought I was getting - rainforest fantasy.

Then we are introduced to the inhabitants of the world across the divide - some of which are new creations and others are familiar and they have all been given names of the same naming scheme (eg brittlehorn=unicorn, brazzle=griffin). I understand why the author did this as it allows them to integrate their original creatures better into the story and most of the names are somewhat self evident but it makes the story a bit clunky at the beginning as Felix has to figure all this out and the reader requires a glossary. Also some of Felix's conclusions are strange: what on earth about Japegrins (sneaky folk that all wear purple and like to pull pranks) says they are specifically pixies? I agree that they are clearly some kind of fairy but if I was Felix I wouldn't immediately think "Aha! that could only be a pixie!"

That brings us to another topic - the book's treatment of the theme of being born into a role. All of the different peoples on the other side of the divide all wear a specific colour and have a specific range of jobs depending on what they are which is interesting? I can see what they were getting at and this is a kid's book so I guess subtlety isn't the best course but it felt a little blatant and... manufactured? A lot of the aspects of the world feel strange as soon as you take a closer look at them and I spent quite a bit of time trying to rationalise how the magic system was supposed to work.

I haven't even gotten to my biggest complaint yet in that this is essentially a story about the dangers of improper regulation of the pharmaceuticals industry, how monopolies are bad and the importance of information flow. These are not topics that are usually addressed in books for this demographic and I think it was a very good idea but setting this book in a time pre-agriculture is just wild to me. I am supposed to believe that in a hunter-gatherer society not only can people can sustain sizeable towns with only what they forage but also there is a large potions corporation? This story would be a lot more believable if it was set in a world undergoing the industrial revolution - and some of the later themes would fit better but as it is it feels very weird.

It appears to be a theme in most of the children's books I've read this year contain sudden, surprisingly brutal deaths and this book was no exception. On one occasion it is particularly sudden (and horrifying) as the affected characters go from fooling about, possibly slightly intoxicated, in one paragraph and dead/dying the next.

I'm rating this book two stars and not three because while the book does improve as it goes on, the first two thirds are a chore to read. Despite my low rating I think many people can enjoy this book if they aren't in the habit of chewing on the scenery to see if the leaves are real!

[Brittney Tyler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Star Rating: 5 stars

As my followers know and as I have stated many times, I make a list of books at the beginning of the year that I want to read, and I either read off that list until it’s completed, or I run out of time. When it comes to that list, I like to put a combination of my own personal TBR books, most anticipated releases, books from series I have currently running, and blacklist books and series that I have been trying to get to. This is to ensure that all my lists and shelves decrease at a steady rate, so nothing is left hanging because I have obsessive compulsive disorder or OCD and leaving goals or lists unfinished tends to bother me. One of the books that I put on my list for 2022 is The Divide by Elizabeth Kay which tells the story of a young boy named Felix Sanders who by accident, ends up being sent to a topsy-turvy world on the other side of the Continental Divide where mythical creatures are real and humans are imaginary. At first, all he wants is to get back home, but then he realizes that this may be the chance he’s been waiting for- a chance to heal his life-threatening heart condition.

My favorite thing about this book is the tone that Kay uses as it is very mature for a children’s book. However, I wasn’t surprised that Kay uses this tone when you consider the subject matter. I mean Felix is trying find a cure for his heart before it kills him and this theme/event is actively discussed in the book on multiple occasions, therefore, lending to the mature tone. Another thing that leads to the mature tone is the fact that there are many unconventional family structures in this novel, for instance, Betony’s parents aren’t apart of her life, for reasons I won’t spoil, and she is being raised by her siblings and the two other characters are separated/divorced in this book with children. As most middle grades, which this book is, focus on more traditional family structures, the fact that this book doesn’t lends, again, to its more mature tone. All in all, I think the tone was a great decision by Kay and I hope she keeps it up over the course of the trilogy.

As previously mentioned, there is a great prevalence of talk about death in this book, but it isn’t just where the main character is concerned as a myriad of other characters also pass away in this book, usually due to traumatic events. This lends to the overarching central theme of death, particularly death because of medicine or the failure of medicine, since most of the deaths in this novel have something to do with that phenomenon. There also is a prevailing theme of science versus magic or Felix’s world’s ideology versus Betony’s. Felix’s world has failed him when it comes to cures, so he is desperate to find a magical one, but while in Betony’s world he learns that there is an individual that is making phony or untested magical cures/potions and marketing them to people. Felix realizes this is very similar to the processes that happen in his own world, but unlike there, he can do something to stop it here, using scientific processes and superior knowledge, but by doing this, he inadvertently puts Betony’s world on a modern track, in that, it will now progress in a similar way to his own, which leads to a slight moral paradox, which I am assuming will get resolved in later books in the trilogy.

I personally think that this is a great middle grade book as it teaches children and young people the value of life, family, and friendship as well as teaching them that when they see something wrong, they should strive to correct it in any way they see fit. Because of this, I am rating this childhood favorite 5 stars on re-read.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading this aloud with the girls; the cool art and split cover was a draw for the 11-year-old who bought the series at a used bookstore with grandma and grandpa.
The premise is fun; a boy manages to fall on the Continental Divide at just the right moment in just the right way to fall through to a different world, one in which mythical beings are real and humans are mythical. There is a very regular emphasis on science being from the mythical world of humans, while the other dimension relies on magic instead of science.
I don't understand the naming of creatures - humans are humans in both worlds; some creatures like dragons or centaurs are named for their characteristics: Fire-breather and Wise-hoof. Others are random: Brazzle (griffin) or Japegrin (pixie) or Worrit (no parellel). It's difficult to keep track of what or who is what. There is a page at the front that gives the translations but it's get's old flipping back and forth.
There are a lot of different things going on and even though we read it pretty much every night, all of us would have to ask each other "Wait - what just happened before this? Where are we again?" We'd have to flip back to wherever the current plot line had left off previously to get situated before we could begin the next bit.
Finally, despite all of the magic in the mythical world, they've never even heard of printing presses or figured out a faster way to write things down, which is a large-ish part of the story and hard to believe...even in the premise of a made-up fantasy world.
We did start the second one, since she has the whole series and girls seems to be enjoying it enough not to quit.

[Rudolph Ronswik · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has some really fun stuff in it. I loved it when I was a teen, and every once in a while, I go back and reread it (though it really is a middle-grade reader that doesn't have much for adults). There's fun characters, like a hyena monster that wants to be a chef (but is unnecessarily evil about it), and there's plenty of adventure to be found.

But you'll notice I'm rating it three stars.

One star reduction is because it's weirdly antisemetic. Not on purpose, and it's in the same way that a lot of UK fantasy is, so I think there's some sort of cultural disconnect. The main antagonist, whose name is basically Snakes McKillsYou, is described as having slanted eyes and curly red hair and, well, he's just really racialized for no reason. Even teen me picked up that the antagonist was evil because he looks different.

The other missing star is, again, this book doesn't hold a lot of water for adults. It doesn't keep focus very long, jumping wildly between characters and locations, so while an older kid would like it, it ages pretty quickly. It's also not quite as world-built as other fantasies of the time (Harry Potter has better world-building, though this book is better written), and the ending of the last book is a complete cop-out.

Even then, I'm surprised more people didn't read this book growing up. To me, it's a classic childhood fantasy.

[Addy · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5
The Divide was pretty good! It's one off my shelf that I've had for a while. I've read and enjoyed it in the past. This was a fun, nostalgic read. 4 out of 5 stars!

Our main character, Felix, was a likable little dude! He's sick due to issues with his heart. The book was mostly about him going on a journey within this newfound world to find a cure for his heart. In the end, I was glad that everything worked out!

Felix accidentally stumbles into a magical world. However, there, human beings are believed to be fictional mythical creatures. It's an interesting concept for sure! Though, the different names for all the creatures were really throwing me off in the beginning.

The book switched POV's, but I kept getting the characters mixed up. It was confusing because it often abruptly changed without any warning. Also, it felt pretty jumpy at times. But, that could just be because almost every time I was reading the book I was tired. I think that might've messed with my perception of things somewhat. It was a good book though!

[Sunnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Initially I had an interest in reading this book because it was one my eldest granddaughter selected when we visited our favorite bookstore. I quickly became enchanted by the delightful characters in “Divide,” by Elizabeth Kay. Nearly all were well rounded with the exception of a few minor characters. The chapters at the beginning seemed a bit long, but became shorter as the book progressed. Luckily, the longer chapters were broken up into various segments. As someone who has an incurable disease myself, I identified more closely with one specific character as he lived each adventure filled day. There are challenges that are overcome, disappointments, and wonderful growth within each character. A bit long for my taste, “Divide” will probably keep a tweener entertained for most of the summer. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and wouldn’t change one thing about it! Very highly recommended!

[Brianna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actual rating : 4.5
Honestly, I'm probably too old to have an opinion towards this book, but I enjoyed it. I finished it in nearly one sitting, and I thought it was an interesting and perfectly-paced read. There was no part in which I was bored, or a scene that I was too confused with. The introduction of characters was spaced out enough thatit wasnt too difficult to keep up with.

However, I've seen a lot of reviews saying that it was too hard to memorize, and I think it just depends on a person. If you're someone who can't memorize something after 4-5 times of reading it, then no, this book probably isn't for you. But overall, it wasn't that difficult. A lot of them made sense, like a fire-breather is a dragon.

Overall, I'd definitely read the sequeals, mainly because the ending left me on a 'what happens with *character name*' and so on.

[Bethany Carus · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this for the same reasons it seems a lot of people hated it. I loved the different names for creatures, since it removed the subconscious biases I had on the behaviours, appearances and natures of said creatures. I learnt about them from scratch, with no preconceived notions of how they should fit into a world which 100% contributed to the feeling of discovery when reading. I last read this years ago, and fully intend to re-read it as an adult, but if you're the kind of kid I was, who found reading about what you already understood painfully boring, then this is the kind of fantasy book you can still stomach after Harry Potter already taught you about magic. I can see easily how it's not a book for everyone, but it has something a bit unique to it.

[Katherine Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review posted on my blog, Life As Katherine. https://lifeaskatherine.blogspot.com/

The story was fun and lighthearted. It is about a young boy named Felix, who has a serious, terminal heart condition. He passes out on the Continental Divide in Costa Rica and finds himself in another world. It is a world where magic, griffins, elves, brownies, pixies, and unicorns are real, and humans and science are fiction. He gains some unusual friends who set out on a journey across their world to find a magical cure for his heart. They also come across a japegrin with a mission to get rich off of other people's illnesses.

The plot is well-constructed and lighthearted. It kept me laughing and rooting for Felix, while delighting in discovering the fantasy of this new world.

[Cat'S Schrödinger · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read this as a young teenager and it took me years to find it again because my memories of it were very hazy. I think I experienced it as a slightly darker story as a child, but other than a few elements don’t think it is.
I think the book is exactly what it tries to be. It feels like a fun adventure story for children and I was surprised to find it quite well written even now. It has heart and discusses values in a believable way. I also really enjoyed the presence of a character allowed to grow and the acceptance of others towards that.
I am honestly very intrigued about how it will continue.

[Alyssa Svalberg · Rating 1 out of 5]

Super bummed. Picked out this book when I was in elementary school and never read it. Had a goal to finish all my books this year as an adult.

As a 29 year old, I am SO confused by this book. Why everything has different names, why there’s no clear way to know you’re switching scenes, etc. no wonder I never finished it as a kid!

I looked forward to reading this like many others because of the cover, and wanting to know what happens from my desire as a little girl, but I simply cannot finish it or keep up. I honestly don’t know how children follow all the characters and story lines when everything is so jumbled

[Grace H. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book in middle school, and since then I’be thought about it every once in awhile. When I found a copy at my local used book store, I had to get it and find out if it was good removed from nostalgia. And I’m pleased to say that it is! There are some genuinely funny bits in this book, and I really like how the fantasy world views humans and science as myth. There is much more death in this book than I remember, which I suppose just raises the stakes for the kids reading it. It’s not super complex, it’s pretty fast paced, and overall I would give it to a ten year old.

[Joshua · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a fun story to read. I debated giving it 4 stars. The only thing that kept me from doing that was the beginning of the book. It was a bit challenging to understand what was going on or to follow what creatures people were talking about. I understand the idea behind why the author chose to rename mythical creatures but it felt unnecessary as a barrier to understanding what was going on. Overall, a fun little young reader book that I am glad I finally read after owning it for so long.