Los devorasueños

The Collectors #1

by Jacqueline West, Librada Piñero (Translator)

Giovanni Markson, Van para los amigos que no tiene y Minivan para los niños del cole que le hacen la vida imposible, es un chico de 11 años que siempre se fija en los detalles. Ya sea por su deficiencia auditiva o por su naturaleza inquieta, Van siempre está alerta, y gracias a ello encuentra pequeños tesoros, como un muñeco astronauta o una canica marmolada, que guarda en su caja de tesoros.

Gracias a esta capacidad de atención, Van repara en una niña con un abrigo largo y oscuro que intenta coger monedas del fondo de una fuente. Pero eso no es lo más peculiar de ella… sino que la acompaña ¡una ardilla que habla! La niña, sorprendida de que sea capaz de verla, acaba huyendo de él, pero días más tarde la vuelve a ver espiando llamada Pebble, pertenece a una especie de sociedad que se dedica a coleccionar luces en botellas de cristal. ¿Qué son esas luces? ¿Por qué nadie más puede verlos? ¿Por qué quieren retenerlo por haberlos descubierto?

Poco después, Van conocerá al señor Hvalborg, quien también conoce esa misteriosa red subterránea que se dedica a coleccionar… deseos. Al parecer, no todos los deseos son buenos, e incluso los buenos deseos a menudo tienen consecuencias involuntarias, y los Coleccionistas han asumido el deber de protegernos. Pero él no lo ve con buenos ojos. El pequeño Van tendrá que decidir de qué bando está. ¿Quiénes son los malos: los que impiden o los que garantizan que se cumplan los deseos?

Una historia sobre la amistad, la magia y la frontera invisible entre la bondad y la maldad. De ritmo rápido, ingenioso y fascinante, esta aventura de fantasía contemporánea entreteje la magia en cada página.

Genres: Middle Grade, Fantasy, Audiobook, Adventure, Childrens, Fiction, Mystery

320 pages, Paperback

First published October 9, 2018

About the author

Jacqueline West on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jacquel...

Jacqueline's blog: http://jacquelinewest.com/blog/

Reviews

[Brenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the things that I absolutely adored about The Collectors was the first chapter. The wonderful image of the spider dangling from the ceiling and our first glimpse at the premise. Such lovely descriptive passages that really capture your interest. The way the story has you questioning wishes. Whether all wishes should come true. Sure it's wonderful to wish for ice cream with dinner and have it come true, but what if a wish could be dangerous and needed to be stopped?

Coming from a background in speech-language pathology, I also really appreciated the inclusion of Van, a young boy who is hard of hearing and who wears hearing aids. West accurately describes Van's difficulties in communicating with people when they, for example, don't face him as they're speaking or when they speak too rapidly making it difficult for him to read their lips. There are many examples in the text of Van using the context of a conversation to decipher what the speaker is saying, thus giving the reader a better understanding of what it's like to have a hearing impairment.

Eleven-year-old Van (short for Giovanni) currently lives in New York City with his mother, the famous opera singer, following their many travels all over the world. Van's gotten pretty good at being the new kid at school and spending time on his own, but he still would very much like a friend. Van loves to collect things that he finds, a blue glass marble, discarded toys, little things that go unnoticed by most. Van's also really observant. Like the day in the park where he was watching a man flip a coin into the fountain and a squirrel came flying out of the bushes followed closely by a girl. Drawn to the girl, Van tries to strike up a conversation, only to have the girl and squirrel disappear when his mother comes calling after him. Later Van sees the mysterious girl (Pebble) and squirrel (Barnavelt) from the park again and this time he follows them to an odd building belonging to the mysterious group called The Collectors. After being caught trespassing, Van is tasked with finding out information about another collector, Mr. Falborg and reporting back his finding to Pebble.

Here's where the story gets really interesting. Mr. Falborg invites Van to his home to view his many collections. Once inside, Mr. Falborg shares one of his prized collections, his Wish Eaters, little creatures who have the power to make wishes come true by eating them. Mr. Falborg gives Van his very own Wish Eater and cautions him about the Collectors wanting to imprison all of the Wish Eaters. Now Van becomes very confused. On the one hand, there are the Collectors who maintain that Wish Eaters are dangerous whereas Mr. Falborg insists he only wants to protect them. There is lots of ambiguity regarding who's the good versus the bad guys, and whether all Wish Eaters are dangerous or not, which will hopefully be answered in the sequel. Now if only I could figure out the wording to safely make my wish for news about its release date. Guess I'll just have to be patient.

** E ARC received from Edelweiss Plus **

[Ms. B · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were so many twists in this story about the danger of wishes. What if all wishes came true? Who should decide which wishes come true and which are dangerous? Can Van decide who should make these decisions; the Collectors or Mr. Falborg? Which side is Pebble the girl he initially follows on? Even when the story ended, I wasn't convince that Van has chosen a side. This is book 1 in a series.

[Claire F · Rating 3 out of 5]

Deep thoughts on power, consequences, and motive run throughout this wildly creative, unique adventure.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of fun, and it gets a lot of things right. The boy isn't an orphan, nor unloved, but he still winds up having adventures. There's comic relief. The magic has consistency and is creative/ original.

But there are problems, too. For example, Van isn't much of a hero. I mean, he's brave as all get out, but incredibly foolhardy, when he gets a chance to be. Mainly, though, he's being dragged around, pushed around, carried around, and feeling compelled to do stuff he surely must know is foolish. If the main theme is, at it seems to be, that we need to work for what we want because wishing is a bad idea, I'd really like to see Van successfully actually work for something, thinking through whether it's a good thing or not.

I do like the idea of not knowing who the bad guys are. The second big theme is clear: Don't judge by appearances!

Btw, this is def. the first in a series. It doesn't end on a cliffhanger per se, but it is the set-up for at least one or two more books. I'm not sure whether I'll continue or not.

Van and his mother travel for her performances a lot: "London was a big grayish blur. Paris was a big ivory blur. Rome was a big sunny blur...."

"Bottles as large as milk jugs; bottles small enough to fit inside a closed mouth."

"Hot dog with the Works Pizza. Spicy Chicken Curry Pizza."

"You know, most of the time, cats are just pretending to be asleep."

But does West know about broken legs nowadays? My son's treatment was very different....

[Amber Scaife · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although he tends to go through life generally unnoticed, Van himself is very good at noticing things. Little things that other people would never see. He finds out one day that he can even see some people whom other, normal, folks can't, and that's where his adventures begin. These usually invisible people are Collectors - they steal away wishes before the Wish Eaters can get them. But Van soon discovers that it's not at all easy to discern which side is the right side in this struggle, and that things like good intentions can have disastrous effects.
I loved this Schneider Honor Book, both for it's excellent and imaginative story, but also - and especially - for how Van is portrayed as a boy who wears hearing aids but how that isn't a major plot point. Van is just Van and his hearing aids are a part of how his life works, NBD. As it should be.

[Belles Middle Grade Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have many books by this author, but this is my 1st read! I LOVED this so much! Wow! What if all wishes did come true? If you stop & think about it-it would be chaos. To have a wish come true, you never know what might have to happen to make it possible-& it may be something terrible, a price you wouldn’t want to pay. Plus, the power of that would be too dangerous. I can definitely see how wishes could be very dangerous indeed.

I absolutely love our MC Van. He is hard of hearing, & wears hearing aids. I love that the author got help from several deaf & hard-of-hearing students & their teachers to give the best representation possible(read in back in acknowledgments). It gave me a whole new insight of something I’ve never experienced, & it was like I was able to get a small glimpse of what it must be like. But I loved Van’s attitude about it all, & his acceptance. He even takes out the hearing aids every time he comes home to shut the world out more, & just be with himself & his environment of his bedroom & his “treasures”. Such a great kid. Lemmy & Barnavelt have my heart though. I just melt over those little guys.

I loved the whole backstory of the collectors too, & seeing their base of operations was fascinating! There’s a big question of who the good guys & who the bad guys actually are in here. It’s such a fine line that they both walk, & so the author keeps you guessing & on the edge of your seat. Cannot wait to see what happens next in book 2 after that crazy, amazing ending! Highly recommend! BEAUTIFUL cover by Diana Sudyka as well!💜

[Carrie Brownell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I launched into this read hoping for the best. It had a "Secret Keepers" vibe about it, ala Trenton Lee Stewart. I did think the story was clever and unique at the beginning but I didn't find West to be a riveting story teller and I have to confess boredom by the middle of the story. As the book was wrapping up I was trying to ascertain the main message that the author wanted me to take away and, for the life of me, I couldn't discover what it was. There seemed to be no clear purpose or point in the story being told and without a clear purpose, my use for a book is fairly eliminated. I want to know why I'm being engaged with as a reader. I want to know what the author wants me to think about or believe in and I just could not say what the main idea is behind "The Collectors". West was unclear and vague. It definitely feels like a sequel is in the works, but for my part I'm not engaged enough to want to seek it out and so I probably won't. I can't say that I'm necessarily sorry to have read this particular title but I will say that I'm more likely to forget it as not.

[Mariah · Rating 1 out of 5]

*Minor-ish/Major-ish spoilers throughout. Read at your own risk.*

The Collectors is poorly developed and utterly predictable - two cardinal sins in my book. Poorly developed is worse than predictability to me, however, to be both creates a near intolerable reading experience. Not to mention the ableism, but we'll get to that all in due time.

The underground world of the Collectors is never explored. How many are there? What are the origins of collecting? Is this one city the hub for the entire world? If not, how do the collectors contact one another? Is there an overall governing body or ruler? What does the day to day life of a collector look like? Do they have other jobs in collector society? Do they make their own clothes? Are they able to get married? Are their laws? What if you disagree with a societal expectation or rule? Can you vote? Can you leave the collectors?

Nothing is ever answered or explained all because the author is trying to make the antagonist to the collectors seem viable for Van to align with. Except regardless of whether or not the collectors are defined, the antagonist would always still be in the wrong.

The collectors are for collecting wishes and keeping all wishes from coming true. You can argue that they are unfairly making themselves arbiters over wishes yet because you cannot know what a wisher is wishing for and wishes can come true in dangerously haphazard ways it makes sense to not allow any to come true rather than get into arguments about the morality or value of certain wishes over others every time a wish is collected.

Therefore, the only correct decision is to to disallow any wishes from being granted. Even if the collectors did have a council of some sort to deliberate over each individual wish, it would still be a bunch of random people deciding and the wisher would have no way to even argue their case because collectors are a totally secret society.

So the entire underlying theme of ‘both sides have points’ is completely ridiculous. No wishes is always better than some wishes when it’s possible that any of those wishes has the power to inadvertently bring harm to other people.

Van’s own mother has her leg broken by an errant wish Van makes. Van, himself, is placed in front of a moving train to be murdered because despite the fact that wishes that kill can’t be placed you apparently can make wishes that strategically create a situation in which a person can be killed.

(Which pretty much defeats the whole purpose of it being ‘impossible’ to do, but I digress.)

The whole argument actually hinges on Van’s belief that these little wish granting creatures -wish eaters - need wishes to survive and the collectors are keeping them starved. Despite it being immediately obvious that there is more to the story, Van simply takes the antagonist at face value all because the wish featers are cute. Van’s entire reason for defending them is purely a result of the creatures looking the way they do and not on any practical argument built on an understanding of the situation. Some people find spiders adorable, that does not in any way make spiders overall less potentially harmful to a person.

The sequel tease at the end that suggests there might be more to the wish eaters is aggravating because it is incidental. Van has seen no proof of anything, he’s making the argument based on his feelings not any kind of fact yet he’s validated anyways.

It was frustrating as a reader because if the author truly wanted to make this a complex, nuanced dispute it would have been easy to do so by exploring collector culture and giving them a flawed conception of what wish eaters are. Then when Van gets his wish eater and learns about it more he could realize that the collectors are not working with all the facts based on tangible evidence. That would also function as a reasonable rationale for him doubting the collectors as a collective - if they're wrong about this, what else could they be wrong about?

Van is deaf, but the book depicts this quite poorly. Every other page is Van needing to tell someone that they need to look at him and not speak as fast so he can read their lips. It’s realistic that Van has to communicate this fact constantly as no one will automatically just know, but I found it tedious over time because the author had it happen so often. And it’s not to mirror the real life frustration a deaf person might feel because Van never acts as if this bothers him at all. He is perfectly content to passively miss half of most conversations. He never asks anyone to repeat themselves even when the conversation is important.

Most of the book is written in such a way that it textually implies that being deaf is only a hindrance to a person. Van is unable to free himself because he can’t hear, Van is incapable of piecing together relevant information because he can’t hear, and Van can’t connect with anyone around him meaningfully because he can’t hear. None of these things are true objectively - the framing of the story is what makes it all true.

Being deaf in certain situations can make things more difficult because of the circumstances, it is not the person being deaf so much as the social/societal structures that are built in service of the hearing rather than taking into account all types of people. This book is written as if Van being deaf is the real problem because the story absolutely could not have functioned in the way it did if Van could hear.

The impact of Van being deaf is naturally going to change the trajectory of the story so that should not be a big deal on its own, but Van’s deafness being a problematic difference instead of a mere difference is why I had such an issue with the depiction. Van’s deafness can create unique challenges, but that should have created unique resolutions as well - this is my real point of contention.

Van even chooses to wish away his deafness for a few hours to complete a rescue mission which is the ableist cherry on the ableist cake.

Rather than work with the character as he is, when things get serious the author chooses to remove the ‘obstacle’ of Van’s deafness rather than figure out how Van’s deafness could work within the context of the story. In real life deaf people have to work with what they have, they do not have the ‘luxury’ of simply wishing it away (nor do many deaf people want to) and it is terrible that Jacqueline West could not conceive a conclusion in which the deafness she chose to represent was not a burden on her narrative.

When Van becomes deaf again, the villain tries to wish it away permanently as a gift for him. Van makes this speech about how he doesn’t understand why people would assume that deaf people would want that (generalizing here as it has been awhile since I read the book, but the gist of it is this) and is insulted by the suggestion. Except this rings hollow after Van, himself, just wished away his deafness. Particularly because this book has no commentary whatsoever on deafness, the struggles of deaf people or what Van thinks about his experiences as a deaf person so his sudden defense feels random.

There is this annoying plot thread where Van’s mother is dating the director of her latest opera. It’s heavily implied that the man hooks up with all his lead actresses before leaving them in the lurch. Yet we’re supposed to believe that this relationship will work this time when the man appears twice and never bothers to talk to Van at all.

To be fair to him though, it's not like Van's mother cares about his son either. In this way they are perfectly suited - neither one cares at all about making a healthy blended family dynamic. They simply force them to hang out and don’t even attempt to facilitate a connection.

When Van expresses that he doesn’t want to move around any more his mother ignores this because she selfishly wants to live out her career at the expense of her child’s stability, but she is immediately willing to stick around for her man. When Van’s mother breaks her leg they move in with the director and his son when the two have been dating for like a month. It was infuriating to see such an awful parents simply get away with their behavior.

I wish it had been better because the premise was cool and there are a lot of thoughtful, insightful conversations that can be had when it comes to wishing for things. Alas, The Collectors not only falls short, it is actively harmful. Read if you dare, but do not say I did not warn you.

[Clarabel · Rating 4 out of 5]

J'aime le tourbillon fantastique auquel carburent les romans jeunesse, à l'instar de cette nouvelle série de Jacqueline West (dont j'avais déjà eu le plaisir de découvrir La Maison des secrets).
On retrouve pour héros un jeune garçon solitaire et intrépide : Van, dont la maman est chanteuse d'opéra et voyage à travers le monde. Le garçon est donc habitué à changer d'école et se fondre dans la masse. Ce qu'il aime aussi, c'est collectionner des petits objets insolites. Il a la manie de les chiper dès que le besoin se fait ressentir. Un jour, au parc, il surprend une fille en train de ramasser des pièces dans une fontaine à vœux. Mais celle-ci s'enfuit. Il va la recroiser à plusieurs occasions et toujours dans des circonstances étranges. L'enfant est curieux et la piste... d'où son introduction dans le monde insoupçonné des Collectionneurs !
Si rien que la lecture du premier chapitre vous donne des frissons de joie - une araignée pend au-dessus de la table d'un restaurant bondé - c'est gagné pour la suite. Vous venez de décrocher votre ticket pour une aventure étonnante. On a ainsi des personnages mystérieux, des héros attachants, des choix cornéliens, des apparences trompeuses, des créatures adorables, des vœux par milliers, des missions périlleuses, des kidnappings nocturnes, des sourires qui vous glacent le sang et d'autres qui font froncer les sourcils. Tout ça donne lieu à une lecture fabuleuse avec une intrigue riche en rebondissements (j'ai failli être bernée plus d'une fois). C'est assez original et tellement pétillant... j'ai franchement beaucoup aimé !

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was different than what I am used to reading. I think that its because it is a little below my age level. I think Van would get along great with Ozzie(from the book Zoone). They both like to make obviously bad choices, like making a wish when he was warned not to. Or Ozzie thinking he should go in alone. They have really similar personalities. This book was definitely entertaining but I don't think I will be reading the sequel if there is one.

[Alberto · Rating 3 out of 5]

Una lectura que me ha gustado bastante, aunque me ha dejado más frío de lo que me hubiera gustado...

Mañana 24/01/2022 tendréis la reseña en El cementerio de mis sueños.

[Georgann · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the writing, but I just don't care for stories where no one will give the MC the information they need, and that you have to read the next book to get to the end of the story

[Patty · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Collectors
By
Jacqueline West

What it's all about...

Van is the young son of a famous opera singer. They live wherever his mother sings. This makes Van the newest kid in his class...wherever they go. Van is also deaf and wears hearing aids but there are certain situations where he just does not hear what people are saying. Van also likes tiny things. He seems to find something odd and unique wherever he goes. He loves looking down for small discarded treasures. One day he sees a girl and her squirrel...that would be Pebbles and her squirrel Barnavelt. Van can both see them and hear them and this is just not supposed to happen. This also marks his entrance into the creepy world of the Collectors.

Why I wanted to read it...

I love middle grade books that are mixed with a healthy dose of fantasy. This book had that delightful dose.

What made me truly enjoy this book...

I loved this book because of its wondrous mix of good guys, bad guys and those that are in between. Van gets braver and stronger and that is something he needed. The idea of wishes coming true when you feed the Wish Eaters was fun and then just a tiny bit scary. Well...actually...a lot scary! Wait until you find out what happens when the Wish Eaters are fed! Yikes!

Why you should read it, too...

Middle grade readers who love a book about a boy who can become a sort of a hero and who love adventures that take place in dark and kind of creepy places...will love this book. I can’t wait to see what Van does next!

I received an advance reader’s copy of this book from the publisher through Edelweiss and Amazon. It was my choice to read it and review it.

[The Reading Countess · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy cow. Jacqueline West, you have written a delightfully delicious fantasy story. This is a book you cannot put down until the very last page-compulsively readable!

While I was sad to turn to that last page, I'm heartened to know that there is a second one coming around soon enough. The Collectors is the first in a planned two-book series.

You've gotta love the world she weaves: dream eaters that remind you of Gremlins, a lovable, easily distracted squirrel, and its main characters, Van and Pebble, with whom you want to be friends. The secondary characters are equally well drawn: the mysterious Mr. Falborg and Van's opera singing mother are standouts.

The fact that I haven't yet mentioned Van's hearing impairment (until now, mind you) tells you that West carefully and skillfully wound that part of his persona into the plot. I especially liked that HE did not wish for that to be altered .

As an elementary Language Arts teacher, I am forever grateful to writers like Jacqueline West who write UP to this age group of readers. Her word choice, world building and hidden messages, or so-whats, indicate a deep respect for her readers.

And what might be some little life lessons tucked away, you wonder? While there are many, the two I plan on focusing on when our book club meets next month are BE CAREFUL FOR WHAT YOU WISH and LIFE IS FULL OF GREY AREAS.

Highly recommended for the 8-12 year old crowd!

Now, I'm just waiting to hear about the movie deal in the works...

"Wishes are extraordinarily hard to control."

"---could you understand something deeply enough that you could no longer take either side at all?"

[Idris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was provided a physical ARC of The Collectors by Jacqueline West by HarperCollins Publishers and Greenwillow Books in exchange for an honest review.

4 stars.

I really enjoyed The Collectors. The writing was compulsively readable. I loved the characters and thought they were nicely defined and complex. The worldbuilding was interesting and well-distributed throughout the story. The story was clearly geared toward readers of a certain age, but despite being much older than the intended audience, the writing didn't strike me as immature at all. It was relatively simple, straightforward storytelling that still felt clever to me. I was a little frustrated by some of the choices made by Van, our main character, but he's a young kid thrown into the center of a big adventure. Who wouldn't make a few missteps in that situation?

While my hearing is only slightly below average, I quite appreciated the inclusion of a HoH (hard of hearing) person as the main character. From my admittedly limited perspective, I thought West did well in realistically depicting what limitations Van did and didn't have as a result of being HoH and using hearing aids. More of that please!

[Natalie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Even though the narration was superb, I couldn't quite finish this audiobook. I think what happened here is that the author was trying to add to the suspense by maybe waiting to explain some things, but all this actually did was keep the characters from developing. I don't feel like I understand any of the characters' motivations, even the main character's. I don't even like him very much despite the constant refrain about how he would never normally act like this or do that. I'm sad the story let me down here because usually if I can't finish an audiobook its because the narration is bad. At least then I can read the print version.

[Anna Karwowska · Rating 2 out of 5]

My only wish is that Van - a character who is hard of hearing - hadn't wished for better hearing (no matter how temporary). That, in combination with the unsatisfactory non-resolution at the end, knocked off a few stars for me.

[Nina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't wait for the second book.

[Arien · Rating 4 out of 5]

El protagonista de nuestra historia es Giovanni Markson, Van para los pocos amigos que tiene, debido a su forma de vida y características los amigos no es algo que le sobre. Van vive con su madre, una cantante de ópera cuyo trabajo les hace mudarse continuamente. Van es un niño muy curioso y observador, con una gran imaginación y algo que lo hace diferente a los demás; tiene discapacidad auditiva.

Normalmente no solemos encontrar novelas cuyos protagonistas tengan algún tipo de discapacidad pero últimamente esto está cambiando. En Van encontramos a un niño que está acostumbrado a vivir con su diferencia auditiva. Siempre lleva sus audífonos pero aún así escucha de manera diferente por lo que no encaja con los demás niños y suele sentirse bastante distinto.

Pero la autora nos lo muestra como un niño feliz, con una imaginación desbordante y muy atento a lo que pasa a su alrededor, es por eso que consigue ver lo que nadie más ve.

Un día estando en un parque ve algo que llama su atención: una niña con un abrigo enorme rebuscando en un fuente acompañada de una ardilla que habla. Este encuentro desata un montón de aventuras más que pondrán la vida de Van patas arriba.

No os quiero revelar mucho, solo que los sueños y los deseos tienen un papel muy importante en esta novela. A su alrededor se crea un mundo de magia, misterio y aventuras en el que Van se ve sumergido hasta el fondo.

La primera parte del libro es algo más introductoria, nos muestra el mundo y la personalidad de Van, los misterios que envuelven los sueños y dos bandos claramente diferenciados. La autora nos enseña puntos de los dos bandos para tenernos en la incertidumbre; es bueno que los deseos se cumplan o que no lo hagan?

Así, entre aventuras y giros inesperados, misterios y secretos, se nos presenta un dilema bastante interesante. Creo que a priori todos podríamos pensar que algo como que los sueños se cumplan es positivo pero hay que pensar un poco más allá, no todos los deseos son buenos aunque la intención no sea mala.

Estas reflexiones las vemos a través de Van y es que el personaje protagonista esta muy bien creado y tiene mucha profundidad. Además de ser curioso y observador, veremos que es un niño leal, valiente y tierno. Pero también otros personajes como Piedra, la ardilla, la madre de Van y otros que no puedo mencionar para no revelar spoilers, le van a dar los puntos de vista necesarios para entender todas las perspectivas.

El otro pilar importante de esta novela es la amistad. Como os he comentado al principio, Van no tiene amigos y esta aventura le ayudará a cimentar los lazos de una amistad del todo inesperada.

Se que no os he contado mucho sobre lo que pasa en sí, pero creo que es parte del encanto del libro, y es que el misterio y los giros son los que consiguen engancharnos. Ya os he comentado que al principio el ritmo es más lento, pero pasada la mitad se vuelve más trepidante llegando incluso a momentos de mucha tensión. También hay algunos momentos que, para ciertas edades, puede llegar a dar algo de miedo.

"Los devorasueños" es un libro que contiene mucha magia y misterio, con un protagonista de lo más entrañable con el que vivir muchas aventuras.

[Justice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Now, I'm a fan of Middle Grade. However, the middle grade I most love usually has something to offer adults as well as kids - either a unique take on an issue, a fresh approach to genre elements, or a subtle background story that the target audience won't pick up on. This didn't have any of that. But that doesn't mean it doesn't do what it intended to do - it told a straightforward, entertaining MG story. I'm sure if I was the target audience, I'd have so much fun imaging what my animal companion would look like! While my adult enjoyment is more like 2 stars, I could see myself absolutely recommending this to kids.

While all the double crosses were predictable to me, they were still enjoyable. I know young me would have really liked the time spent on the adult politics, as opposed to focusing most of the conversations between kids.

I wish we got more of Pebble - I was looking forward to seeing more of her friendship with Van. However, I did like the dynamic between Van and Peter.

But oh boy, the mom's relationship with Peter's dad was so... off? I think this was the biggest objective flaw of the book. I was really surprised it wasn't questioned by the narrative. Peter's dad was the director, and I got the impression he had influence on whether or not the mom's contact was extended. He's her boss. And based on what Peter said, he has a tendency to date his singers. Definitely grossed me out. Also, I'm not sure if they ended up together - that's absolutely on me for skimming. In the same vein, it's possible that I missed the reveal of what Peter's wish was.

I also was a bit confused about the time period. There was no mention of cell phones or anything, but nothing else that solidly grounded it in another time period. This also plays a role in my confusion in why Van didn't use any other accessibility tools. There's no mention of subtitles on movies, or phones that typed out what the person said, or anything besides hearing aids. At first, I couldn't tell if it was an absent parent type thing (especially as it mentioned him wanting to learn sign language but not), but then wondered if it was a time frame thing. This probably wouldn't have registered as a kid, although, when I was that age, cell phones hadn't made their way into books yet.

I do want to say, the hearing aids and Hard of Hearing aspects seemed really well done (from what I've read/heard about - I'm def not an expert). There were scenes with Van in a crowded room with hearing aids and being unable to filter through the noise, he wasn't completely deaf without them (and even corrected someone who referred to him as deaf) which was a nuance that I don't see super often, and there was no magical fix (when he tried for the night, it caused problems as well as fixed some).

I read this book because I bought it at her book signing recently - she had studied opera and mentioned the mom was an opera singer, so i had to grab it! I would absolutely recommend it to 8-12 year olds, especially because of how it represented being hard of hearing.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have a friend who is a librarian at our local library. She passed this one to me a while ago. It is an advance reader’s edition. For those unfamiliar with the term of an advance reader’s edition, this is a free book, typically given by the publisher to librarians (and others) before the book is printed for mass distribution.

Whenever this happens, it is always nice for me to get to read it, and then pass it on for my Little Free Library Shed.

I am now bringing my review to Goodreads.

Apparently, this is Book 1 of an intended series. The author is already well-known for her New York Times bestselling Books of Elsewhere series. This one is a story about friendship, magic, and the gray area between good and evil and will attract YA readers.

Although, admittedly, as an adult, I had fun taking a peak between these pages, myself.


Premise: This story is about 11-year old Van who wears hearing aids. While he may not always hear everything, he certainly sees everything. He is a keen observer, and notices little things that others overlook, like small, forgotten items that he secrets home to his imaginary world.

His opera-singing mother is usually preoccupied with other things, so when Van comes across a strange girl stealing pennies from a fountain, he is naturally curious.

Eventually his quest leads him to a hidden underground chambers where he follows the girl (who we learn is named Pebbles) to a room labeled The Collection.

In this room he finds shelves filled with glass bottles which turn out to be captured wishes.

Who would steal wishes?

Why?

Do they help make them come true?

Or do they stop them from coming true?

And what does Pebbles have to do with all of this?

And now, how can Van suddenly be able to talk to animals?

Things start to get more complicated when Van gets kidnapped by men from the underground chambers.

For me to tell more, will just go into spoiler territory.

Are wishes tied up with power, control and good or bad?

And when Van finds out what Pebble’s big secret is, how will readers feel when the book closes.

This story gives readers great characters, interesting world-building, lots of suspense, and leaves readers wanting more.

My greatest concern…

I am not good with cliffhangers. 3.5 stars.

[Leslie Sachlis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book starts out slowly, even tedious at times. Van the main character has a hearing loss. He can however hear some things that "ordinary people" cannot. He can talk to and communicate with the animals. He sees a young girl taking coins from a fountain, follows her and embarks on a adventure he could not have imagined. Pebble ( the girl at the fountain ) is attempting to steal wishes from the fountain before they are granted. The reason for this is that wishes can have unintended consequences both good and bad. What and who are good and bad is very changeable throughout this story. If you like ambiguity this one may be for you. About half way through the book, things get exciting. Exciting/scary enough to possibly disrupt some readers sleep patterns. If you like adventure, not knowing who to trust, and a story in which the good guys are not always good and bad guys may be good after all, you may enjoy this one. Book two is coming later.

[Miriam Kahn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This curious book is about a young boy who can see wishes (they look like little bubbles) and those who capture them. It's impossible, of course, but "true" as he ends up in a world that harvests and captures wishes, keeps them safe from those who can make wishes come true.

Some of the tale is about the danger surrounding wishes. Some is about the old adage "Be careful what you wish for." In the end, it's about wishes and the truth surrounding them.

While the tale is written for 8-12 year olds, I'd say it's appropriate for 12 and up. There are some scary scenes scatter within the tale.

I received an ARC for review for The BookLoft of German Village (Columbus, OH) http://www.bookloft.com

[Karen Parisot · Rating 4 out of 5]

Van is used to going around unnoticed, so he’s become an expert at noticing the stuff that everyone else ignores. He has built a collection of found objects that he keeps stowed beneath his bed. Whenever he goes out he’s always on the lookout for another treasure to add to his box. One day at the Park, he notices a gray squirrel and a strangely dressed girl stealing a coin from a fountain. Little does he know that his life is about to get much, much more interesting.
This book has so much going for it. It is a truly wonderful tale for middle grade readers, and I know they will be hooked by this one. I like that the author chose to give the main character a disability. Lots of children know either a classmate or a family member who suffers from hearing impairment, and after reading this story I’m sure they will come away with a better understanding of the difficulties they face. I also like the idea of the collection of wishes, and how we should be careful what we wish for because they can have unintended consequences. The author shows there are two sides to every issue, and that there isn’t always a “right” side. Van is caught in the middle, and wants to find a compromise because he can see that each side has some valid points. Readers will love this fantasy tale that’s filled with magic, adventure and humor. They’ll fall in love with Barnavelt, the talking squirrel, and be fascinated by the spine-tingling world of the Collectors.

[Beverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an awesome fantasy, featuring a boy (Van) who has some hearing loss, enough that he needs to use hearing aids. Van discovers a secret society of Collectors, who capture and imprison Wish Eaters, misty creatures who fulfill people's wishes. The Collectors' rational is that wishes are unpredictable, and can cause more problems than they are worth. On the other side is Mr. Falborg, who wants to free the Wish Eaters. Poor Van gets caught in the middle when the Collectors want him to spy on Mr. Falborg, and Mr. Falborg wants him to spy on the Collectors.
This is a fast-paced, action-packed adventure, with interesting characters, and a unique concept.

[Pages & Cup · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5 stars. What an absolutely wonderful middle-grade book! I loved the protagonist, Van Markson. He's very likable and relatable, even though he's an 11-year-old boy who's hearing impaired and I'm not. I also loved the mini-cliffhangers at the end of each chapter. They propelled the story forward.

I received this book for free from the publisher.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Collectors centers around Van, an 11 year old boy, as he discovers a hidden world of wish collectors, secretive people, and magical animals. Jacqueline West writes fabulous dark, magical, mysterious middle grade and YA books. I loved this and would recommend it to anyone of any age.

[Jen Petro-Roy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just wonderful.

[Taylor Ren’e Lara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. Unique concept, gorgeous world building and a perfectly unwrapped ending. I’m hoping for a book 2 📖

[Boutayna · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5
Slow at moments but lands well. I love the mom in this. Moral relativism for 12-year-olds was fun to read.