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A Well-Timed Enchantment: A Time-Travel Fantasy Adventure About a Girl and a Cat Who Becomes Human in Medieval France for Kids (Ages 10-12)
It's bad enough that Deanna has to waste her summer in France and her only friend is a mangy black cat, but now she's staring hopelessly into a well, trying to figure out what in the world to wish for. Before she can make a wish, the cat scratches her, her watch falls into the well, and then . . . so has she! Except that now she's in medieval France, the cat is a handsome young man, and her watch has the power to completely change history. Maybe a quiet summer would have been nice?
239 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1990
8 people are currently reading
1024 people want to read
About the author
Vivian Vande Velde
51 books996 followersVivian Vande Velde (born 1951, currently residing in Rochester, New York) is an American author who writes books primarily aimed at young adults.
Her novels and short story collections usually have some element of horror or fantasy, but are primarily humorous. Her book Never Trust a Dead Man (1999) received the 2000 Edgar Award for Best Young Adult Novel. She says that she really likes to write for children. She likes to do school talks to children. She does many book conventions and also gives writing classes.
Her novels and short story collections usually have some element of horror or fantasy, but are primarily humorous. Her book Never Trust a Dead Man (1999) received the 2000 Edgar Award for Best Young Adult Novel. She says that she really likes to write for children. She likes to do school talks to children. She does many book conventions and also gives writing classes.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 100 reviews
February 21, 2019
Deanna had a happy childhood, but now she’s fifteen and her life is in upheaval. Her parents are divorcing, and her mom just dragged Deanna to France to spend the summer with some relatives. The girl can’t speak French and feels alienated among her family. Her only solace is prowling the countryside around Aunt Emilie’s house. Also prowling is a stray black cat, whom Deanna names Oliver and befriends.
One of these aimless days, Deanna stumbles upon an ancient well and, bored and frustrated beyond description, flings in her Disneyland souvenir watch. A presence in the well becomes enraged, grabbing our heroine and the loyal kitty who jumps in after her (this is our first clue that this cat is more than he appears to be).
Their captors turn out to be elves, who live in a mysterious dry underworld below the well. The elves have some authority over Time itself, with all of history easily accessible to them. Deanna has inadvertently sent her watch back to the same part of rural France but in the year 1066. If the medieval folk find the watch, so say the elves, they’ll take it for a magical object of great power. Wars will start over it. There will be no Renaissance, Reformation, Enlightenment, or United States. Deanna, and the vast majority of other people alive in the present-day, will never be born.
She has twenty-four hours to find her watch or the world itself will be unmade and rebuilt along bizarre, unrecognizable lines. Oliver comes along to help, but in a considerably different form…
Content Advisory
Violence: Baylen falls off his horse and endures a bloody head wound. The rest of the violence is slapstick.
Sex: Leonard tries to kiss Deanna even though she’s made her discomfort clear. She shoves him away. Lady Marguerite, who has to be in her thirties at least, simpers after the teenaged Oliver.
Language: None.
Substance Abuse: The medieval characters all drink wine, in keeping with the time period (the water wasn’t necessarily safe back then).
Politics and Religion: The fair folk believe that discovering the watch might drive the Church to schism four centuries early, which would completely rewrite history.
Conclusions
This book was great fun. It doesn’t have great emotional depth, and some of the plot mechanics require a good deal of suspended disbelief. But it more than makes up for that with its wit, its twists, and one particularly intriguing character.
That character is not Deanna, even though she’s very relatable—grouchy, clumsy, socially inept, and secretly vulnerable; in short, she is a recognizable adolescent girl.
It’s Oliver. After being turned into a young man, he’s still very much a cat, to the point where it’s a bit unnerving. He gets sick easily, compulsively cleans his clothes and hair, and always lands on his feet. Nothing escapes his piercing green eyes.
Once he’s transformed, both he and Deanna come to life, all her snark wasted on someone incapable of understanding sarcasm. Their attraction has an intellectual component as well as a physical one, and it develops over the course of the book with realistic setbacks and stupid teenage arguments. Compared to the hormonal histrionics of your average YA couple these days, these two were very refreshing.
The supporting cast aren’t particularly well-developed, although I liked how Vande Velde used them for misdirection and mystery. They’re certainly entertaining.
The medieval setting is a lot like that of The Sword in the Stone (both the book and the movie), which is definitely a plus for me. Vande Velde even throws in a fleeting, very funny reference to the movie version of Merlyn at the ending.
If you like clean, somewhat vintage (first published in 1990 and the occasional pop culture references prove it) YA that features a good ship but goes light on the romantic angst, this might be the book for you. Especially if you enjoyed Howl’s Moving Castle or the Ruby Red series.
One of these aimless days, Deanna stumbles upon an ancient well and, bored and frustrated beyond description, flings in her Disneyland souvenir watch. A presence in the well becomes enraged, grabbing our heroine and the loyal kitty who jumps in after her (this is our first clue that this cat is more than he appears to be).
Their captors turn out to be elves, who live in a mysterious dry underworld below the well. The elves have some authority over Time itself, with all of history easily accessible to them. Deanna has inadvertently sent her watch back to the same part of rural France but in the year 1066. If the medieval folk find the watch, so say the elves, they’ll take it for a magical object of great power. Wars will start over it. There will be no Renaissance, Reformation, Enlightenment, or United States. Deanna, and the vast majority of other people alive in the present-day, will never be born.
She has twenty-four hours to find her watch or the world itself will be unmade and rebuilt along bizarre, unrecognizable lines. Oliver comes along to help, but in a considerably different form…
Content Advisory
Violence: Baylen falls off his horse and endures a bloody head wound. The rest of the violence is slapstick.
Sex: Leonard tries to kiss Deanna even though she’s made her discomfort clear. She shoves him away. Lady Marguerite, who has to be in her thirties at least, simpers after the teenaged Oliver.
Language: None.
Substance Abuse: The medieval characters all drink wine, in keeping with the time period (the water wasn’t necessarily safe back then).
Politics and Religion: The fair folk believe that discovering the watch might drive the Church to schism four centuries early, which would completely rewrite history.
Conclusions
This book was great fun. It doesn’t have great emotional depth, and some of the plot mechanics require a good deal of suspended disbelief. But it more than makes up for that with its wit, its twists, and one particularly intriguing character.
That character is not Deanna, even though she’s very relatable—grouchy, clumsy, socially inept, and secretly vulnerable; in short, she is a recognizable adolescent girl.
It’s Oliver. After being turned into a young man, he’s still very much a cat, to the point where it’s a bit unnerving. He gets sick easily, compulsively cleans his clothes and hair, and always lands on his feet. Nothing escapes his piercing green eyes.
Once he’s transformed, both he and Deanna come to life, all her snark wasted on someone incapable of understanding sarcasm. Their attraction has an intellectual component as well as a physical one, and it develops over the course of the book with realistic setbacks and stupid teenage arguments. Compared to the hormonal histrionics of your average YA couple these days, these two were very refreshing.
The supporting cast aren’t particularly well-developed, although I liked how Vande Velde used them for misdirection and mystery. They’re certainly entertaining.
The medieval setting is a lot like that of The Sword in the Stone (both the book and the movie), which is definitely a plus for me. Vande Velde even throws in a fleeting, very funny reference to the movie version of Merlyn at the ending.
If you like clean, somewhat vintage (first published in 1990 and the occasional pop culture references prove it) YA that features a good ship but goes light on the romantic angst, this might be the book for you. Especially if you enjoyed Howl’s Moving Castle or the Ruby Red series.
January 15, 2021
I don't particularly like cats in real life, but I've noticed recently that they are generally a lot more appealing in fiction. A Well-Timed Enchantment by Vivian Vande Velde has a cat that's cool like that.
The story starts when Deanna, a fifteen-year-old spending the summer with her mom in France, drops her Mickey Mouse watch down a well. Turns out the well isn't your average well: it's magic. To make matters worse, Deanna didn't drop her watch into the well, she dropped it into medieval France. Now she has to get the watch back before things get really out of hand. Deanna gets some help in the form of Oliver, the black cat she befriended back in modern France. Except now Oliver is a human.
I first read this book when I was sixteen. I loved it so much I read it twice back to back. A Well-Timed Enchantment is one of those books that never get old. You can read it again and again and the story is still just as good as the first time.
Vande Velde's narrative style here is similar to her other "fairy tale" books (like The Rumpelstiltskin Problem or Heir Apparent) with a blend of traditional story telling and her inimitably modern sensibility. The novel is written with a third person narration that follows Deanna's perspective.
This novel combines a lot of different elements to great effect. One of the best characters (in any of) Vande Velde's work is Oliver. Turns out cats don't see things the same way humans do. I don't know how convincingly anyone can write in the voice of a cat-turned-human but Vande Velde seems to do a good job of it.
The story is quick and fairly simple. There are a lot of things that older readers can enjoy and comment on, but the story is straight-forward enough that younger readers can also keep up. I might even go as far as to say it's a great feminist-oriented book for children (some might call it "anti-princess") because Deanna plays a significant role in fixing things (getting back the watch) even though Oliver does help quite a bit.
My only issue with A Well-Timed Enchantment is the ending. Some readers will tell you they like a good, open-ended finish. It's more realistic, it encourages readers to use their imagination, etc. There is a time and place for open-endedness. This book does not happen to be the best place for it. Vande Velde acknowledges this in her dedication (it's dedicated to a girl even though she hated the ending). Over the years the ending has rankled less because, having given the matter more thought, I've been forced to conclude that there might not be a better way to end things. But it still left me frustrated after my first reading.
Despite the somewhat irritating ending, this book is amazing. The characters are endearing, the story is fun, Oliver is awesome. Vande Velde is as creative and fun here as ever.
You can find this review and more on my blog Miss Print
The story starts when Deanna, a fifteen-year-old spending the summer with her mom in France, drops her Mickey Mouse watch down a well. Turns out the well isn't your average well: it's magic. To make matters worse, Deanna didn't drop her watch into the well, she dropped it into medieval France. Now she has to get the watch back before things get really out of hand. Deanna gets some help in the form of Oliver, the black cat she befriended back in modern France. Except now Oliver is a human.
I first read this book when I was sixteen. I loved it so much I read it twice back to back. A Well-Timed Enchantment is one of those books that never get old. You can read it again and again and the story is still just as good as the first time.
Vande Velde's narrative style here is similar to her other "fairy tale" books (like The Rumpelstiltskin Problem or Heir Apparent) with a blend of traditional story telling and her inimitably modern sensibility. The novel is written with a third person narration that follows Deanna's perspective.
This novel combines a lot of different elements to great effect. One of the best characters (in any of) Vande Velde's work is Oliver. Turns out cats don't see things the same way humans do. I don't know how convincingly anyone can write in the voice of a cat-turned-human but Vande Velde seems to do a good job of it.
The story is quick and fairly simple. There are a lot of things that older readers can enjoy and comment on, but the story is straight-forward enough that younger readers can also keep up. I might even go as far as to say it's a great feminist-oriented book for children (some might call it "anti-princess") because Deanna plays a significant role in fixing things (getting back the watch) even though Oliver does help quite a bit.
My only issue with A Well-Timed Enchantment is the ending. Some readers will tell you they like a good, open-ended finish. It's more realistic, it encourages readers to use their imagination, etc. There is a time and place for open-endedness. This book does not happen to be the best place for it. Vande Velde acknowledges this in her dedication (it's dedicated to a girl even though she hated the ending). Over the years the ending has rankled less because, having given the matter more thought, I've been forced to conclude that there might not be a better way to end things. But it still left me frustrated after my first reading.
Despite the somewhat irritating ending, this book is amazing. The characters are endearing, the story is fun, Oliver is awesome. Vande Velde is as creative and fun here as ever.
You can find this review and more on my blog Miss Print
August 14, 2021
A time travel story to medieval France with a cat turned-handsome-human as companion - this summary sounded like it's just my cup of tea. Unfortunately, it was written by Vivian Vande Velde. I by no means think of her as a bad writer, but somehow her books always feel very average to me and never quite meet my expectations.
Although this is a young adult book, it feels very juvenile. I like children's books and there are plenty of well-written ones that don't I can fully appreciate despite not being the intended reading group. With Vande Velde, I often feel as if it's been dumbed down while at the same time trying to come across as more mature. I can't quite put my finger on it, but there's just something about her works that doesn't sit right with me.
As for A Well-Timed Enchantment, Vande Velde shows that she does have humour, for Oliver - our cat-turned-human - is a genuinely fun character who had me laughing several times. So, the author can do it, but somehow that never seems to reach the rest of the characters. All other attempts at humour fell flat and made me want to roll my eyes. A lot of the characters feel silly more than funny and seem like cartoon rip-offs - and this is no critique at cartoons, I expect a certain level of silliness from a cartoon. But I don't think that's what this book is aiming for.
Then, of course, we have our main character Deanna. I didn't like her and therefore couldn't sympathise with her. She is bratty and condescending, most of her time is spent with looking down on or even insulting the other characters. Let's also put selfish on the list, despite the author's efforts to try and make her seem selfless, she struck me as anything but. She always made a point of how Sir Henri - her host who (plot-wise quite absurdly) offered her a room without knowing anything about her - isn't very bright. To me, he was both kind and pretty much the only sensible character in this entire plot. Oliver doesn't count, he's a cat and thinks differently, which is awesome.
Ultimately, this could have been a very fun book with many elements that I enjoy. But a poor main character in a setting that was too silly for its own good rather ruined it for me. It's not a bad book, but I didn't really enjoy it - perhaps a younger reader would, but then there are much better books out there to try instead. What a shame, Oliver is a great character and he is wasted on the rest of the book. I think this will have been the last book by Vande Velde that I try - three times a miss is too big of a bad record for me to want to try again.
January 14, 2024
4.5 stars.
Having loved Vande Velde's Companions of the Night, I NEEDED more of her work, and this one sounded fun.
It was! It's on the young side of YA, unlike Companions of the Night, but that doesn't detract from the fun. It's a little bit silly, a little bit witty, and very adorable. And the ending— I'm beginning to wonder if open endings are Vande Velde's thing— is perfect. A good all-ages read!
Having loved Vande Velde's Companions of the Night, I NEEDED more of her work, and this one sounded fun.
It was! It's on the young side of YA, unlike Companions of the Night, but that doesn't detract from the fun. It's a little bit silly, a little bit witty, and very adorable. And the ending— I'm beginning to wonder if open endings are Vande Velde's thing— is perfect. A good all-ages read!
July 3, 2012
This is a book I randomly picked up because it looked interesting. It is very short and because of this the story seemed to be very abrupt. Different parts of the story seemed to be randomly thrown in and it didn't make much sense. I thought the overall concept of the story was good but the execution was poor. The author spent a lot of time on describing insignificant details but then would throw others quickly into the plot that made no sense. I certainly could have done without the random romance part because it did not fit and seemed like more of an afterthought. While the beginning of the book really caught my interest, the ending was a big disappointment for me. Maybe if the main character had not been such a whinny child things would have made more sense and I would have liked it better. Overall, I did not dislike it, I just did not enjoy it the way I thought I would.
February 9, 2019
This was a fun and clever story, but it's definitely written for the younger ages of the young adult genre. Oliver was my favorite character, I'm not sure if it was because of his origin or something else but he was the most entertaining. The ending was sweet and not completely predictable, at least until you get closer to finishing the book. I'd recommend this to anyone who enjoys YA/ MG fiction that involves time travel.
November 10, 2008
Like William Sleator, Vande Velde is one of the writers I read compulsively when I was about 12 or 13, even though I was often surprised at the rather dramatic shifts in quality from work to work. This novel is not one of Vande Velde’s worst, though neither is it one of her best. It is, however, one I’ve read before—something I realized only halfway through, which suggests that this is also one of her more forgettable books. Yeah: there’s really not all that much of note here. While on vacation in the French countryside, Deanna accidentally drops her Mickey Mouse watch into a magic wall, potentially causing a paradox that she must go back in time and correct before the future is altered. With the help of some rather gay elves, she finds herself back in medieval France. Unfortunately, as Vande Velde writes it, the past is as Disney as the watch. Way too much of the narrative is spent on Deanna fumbling around this plasticy version of a castle filled with plasticy lords and ladies (and even a plasticy wizard). The only really interesting part of the book involves Deanna’s cat Oliver, whom the elves turn into a boy and send back in time to help her. I liked Oliver’s mix of humanness and catness (he’s amusingly literal—like Anya, in a way!) but his and Deanna’s relationship is glossed over until the very end, which puts a dampener on what’s by far the most original part of the novel. So, judging by my poor memory, this book didn’t impress me much when I was 12, and it doesn’t impress me much now either.
March 8, 2017
The story follows Deanna as she vacations with her mother in the French countryside. It isn't long before Deanna and a neighborhood cat end up enchanted by fairies back in medieval France on a desperate quest. The humor borders on the ridiculous. Horn Book calls it "slapstick." But what bothered me this second time through (thirty years later) was the helpless heroine.
Deanna tries to take charge of her situation, but she spends a lot of time getting interrupted, shoved around, and thwarted...not very heroic. She is always moaning about not having anyone to help her and ends up trusting just about everyone else instead of making her own decisions.
It's okay for the main character to lose control of the situation, especially in a comedy where the frustrating results can be hilarious. Unfortunately, as a reader I mostly just felt annoyed that Deanna didn't walk away from these buffoons and get on with her quest.
Elizabeth (to whom the book is dedicated) and I both agree that the ending might have been stronger, more satisfying.It's still worth reading, but not Vande Velde's best work.
Deanna tries to take charge of her situation, but she spends a lot of time getting interrupted, shoved around, and thwarted...not very heroic. She is always moaning about not having anyone to help her and ends up trusting just about everyone else instead of making her own decisions.
It's okay for the main character to lose control of the situation, especially in a comedy where the frustrating results can be hilarious. Unfortunately, as a reader I mostly just felt annoyed that Deanna didn't walk away from these buffoons and get on with her quest.
Elizabeth (to whom the book is dedicated) and I both agree that the ending might have been stronger, more satisfying.It's still worth reading, but not Vande Velde's best work.
July 31, 2013
There's two kinds of good YA books. The first are great when you're young, but you grow up and realize... hey, this is just as good when I'm an adult! Maybe good in a different way, but good no less.
The other kind is great when you're young, and when you revisit it as an adult you find its just... not quite like you remember.
This is one of the latter. Its not a bad book, either as an adult or a child, but it doesn't distinguish itself either. The plot is a bit simplistic, the characterization is a bit obvious and the lesson a bit heavy handed. These aren't flaws per se, but it does mean that if you come to it as a more sophisticated reader, you may have trouble getting into it and immersing.
The story is a time travel fantasy with history and elves and a pretty cool cat, in the literal sense. Our heroine never got grating, though a few times I wanted to sigh over her lack of understanding about certain things and her odd jealousy. the side characters were... eccentric and really added to the story I think.But overall, this book was okay. Not bad, not great, just okay.
The other kind is great when you're young, and when you revisit it as an adult you find its just... not quite like you remember.
This is one of the latter. Its not a bad book, either as an adult or a child, but it doesn't distinguish itself either. The plot is a bit simplistic, the characterization is a bit obvious and the lesson a bit heavy handed. These aren't flaws per se, but it does mean that if you come to it as a more sophisticated reader, you may have trouble getting into it and immersing.
The story is a time travel fantasy with history and elves and a pretty cool cat, in the literal sense. Our heroine never got grating, though a few times I wanted to sigh over her lack of understanding about certain things and her odd jealousy. the side characters were... eccentric and really added to the story I think.But overall, this book was okay. Not bad, not great, just okay.
March 30, 2012
Cats. And time-travel. And Vivian Vande Velde, who, according to my cousin, is always amazing. Three out of three.
And it was pretty dang awesome. It took me a while to really get into it, probably because of Deanna - she just wasn't -that- interesting of a character... by herself. But once Oliver got humanified? Her interactions with him really made the book.
Scratch that. Oliver made the book. I adore cats, they're my favorite animals, but I think I'd be too terrified to try to write a humanified cat. Cats are so much better than humans, and, as long as I've had cats, I don't think I could capture them. But Vivian Vande Velde just... got it. Oliver was such a CAT. He was amazing.
The ending, too, was really great. Actually, all of it but the first twenty pages or so was great. Read it.
And it was pretty dang awesome. It took me a while to really get into it, probably because of Deanna - she just wasn't -that- interesting of a character... by herself. But once Oliver got humanified? Her interactions with him really made the book.
Scratch that. Oliver made the book. I adore cats, they're my favorite animals, but I think I'd be too terrified to try to write a humanified cat. Cats are so much better than humans, and, as long as I've had cats, I don't think I could capture them. But Vivian Vande Velde just... got it. Oliver was such a CAT. He was amazing.
The ending, too, was really great. Actually, all of it but the first twenty pages or so was great. Read it.
March 18, 2009
VVV and Eoin Colfer write some of the shortest endings!
I like a little "settle down" time. More than five pages. Not one hundred (bother some authors), but at least VVV made it clear how the story would continue. I just wanted to read about it!
Oliver's character was well-done and not too ridiculously heroic. He got food poisoning! Not too ridiculously romantic either.
Deanna was a little oblivious, but most book-characters are. She was realistic, though, and messed up in the most absurd ways.
The elves, er, fair folk, were well-done too by being totally otherworldly, powerfully magical, and distant. Though at least they were sort of helpful.
Who'd've thought a Mickey Mouse watch would cause so much trouble?
I like a little "settle down" time. More than five pages. Not one hundred (bother some authors), but at least VVV made it clear how the story would continue. I just wanted to read about it!
Oliver's character was well-done and not too ridiculously heroic. He got food poisoning! Not too ridiculously romantic either.
Deanna was a little oblivious, but most book-characters are. She was realistic, though, and messed up in the most absurd ways.
The elves, er, fair folk, were well-done too by being totally otherworldly, powerfully magical, and distant. Though at least they were sort of helpful.
Who'd've thought a Mickey Mouse watch would cause so much trouble?
January 18, 2015
Usually I really like books by this author, but this one was something of a chore to get through. Despite being told she was on a super important quest to save the world, the protagonist just sort of ambles through it, having things happen TO her but not really making things happen. The book could easily have been called "Deanna Is Wrong About Everything." It would have worked better as a running joke. In contrast, Oliver is odd but not consistent - sometimes he seems to understand what's going on better than Deanna does, at other times he's completely clueless.
Don't get me started on the fae. From blaming Deanna for ignoring warnings and clues she had no way of perceiving to giving the most useless advice EVER, they were pathetic and irritating and I just wanted them to go away.
Don't get me started on the fae. From blaming Deanna for ignoring warnings and clues she had no way of perceiving to giving the most useless advice EVER, they were pathetic and irritating and I just wanted them to go away.
February 18, 2010
A delightful light fantasy with unique fair folk/elves and an enchanted well which is the tool Velde uses to bring Deanna to another world. One of my favorite characters in this story was Oliver, though I won't say why. I don't want to ruin the little surprises he brings to this tale.
June 19, 2020
Just as charming as I remember. More adventure-packed and full of action than I remember, which was great fun to rediscover. Vivian Vande Velde continues with her more-complex-than-expected characters. And Oliver. Oh Oliver. <3
July 8, 2013
I have no words to praise it because it's sooooooo AMAZING.....AWESOME work......;D
February 26, 2021
This book has my whole heart and also I would die for Oliver.
September 10, 2018
If you like fairly straightforward fantasy adventure stories with some wry humor tossed in and can forgive some semi-ridiculous plot points and characterization, you’ll enjoy this book. Also, a cat turns into a human boy! How can you resist that? I know I can’t.
I picked up this book at a used bookstore because I have some serious nostalgia for Vivian Vande Velde books (her Companions of the Night is one of my top favorite vampire books EVER; pretty incredible standing given it’s YA) and hadn’t read this one. I breezed through it in one day and my favorite part was the dry, observational humor that Vande Velde threads throughout, particularly through the voice of the main character, Deanna.
Deanna’s stuck in France, bored, with only the cat Oliver for companionship. One day she loses her Mickey Mouse digital watch down a well - only it’s a wishing well! - and some naughty time-traveling elves pull her in too, and Oliver jumps after. They’ve actually pulled her into medieval France, and she must get the watch back in 24hrs or her modern future is toast. Oh, and they turn Oliver human just so he can help.
That isn’t even any spoilers, that’s just the basic set-up of the story! Bananas, right? And that’s before we get to Castle Delesse and the wacky family inhabiting it, around whom Deanna must do her investigations.
My suggestion to future readers is just relax and go with it. It’s slightly preposterous, but this book is also suitable for middle grade readers, so you have to keep things on a certain simple Disney level right? Vande Velde does that, but her writing keeps things amusing even still. Somewhere in the background of this, Deanna starts growing attached to Oliver in his human form, but this storyline I think was handled less well - it should have been developed more or left out entirely. (There’s threads of this star-crossed romance in Companions of the Night, but much better done.)
Anyway, I liked it well enough, but I think this will be enjoyed by younger readers more so than adults.
I picked up this book at a used bookstore because I have some serious nostalgia for Vivian Vande Velde books (her Companions of the Night is one of my top favorite vampire books EVER; pretty incredible standing given it’s YA) and hadn’t read this one. I breezed through it in one day and my favorite part was the dry, observational humor that Vande Velde threads throughout, particularly through the voice of the main character, Deanna.
Deanna’s stuck in France, bored, with only the cat Oliver for companionship. One day she loses her Mickey Mouse digital watch down a well - only it’s a wishing well! - and some naughty time-traveling elves pull her in too, and Oliver jumps after. They’ve actually pulled her into medieval France, and she must get the watch back in 24hrs or her modern future is toast. Oh, and they turn Oliver human just so he can help.
That isn’t even any spoilers, that’s just the basic set-up of the story! Bananas, right? And that’s before we get to Castle Delesse and the wacky family inhabiting it, around whom Deanna must do her investigations.
My suggestion to future readers is just relax and go with it. It’s slightly preposterous, but this book is also suitable for middle grade readers, so you have to keep things on a certain simple Disney level right? Vande Velde does that, but her writing keeps things amusing even still. Somewhere in the background of this, Deanna starts growing attached to Oliver in his human form, but this storyline I think was handled less well - it should have been developed more or left out entirely. (There’s threads of this star-crossed romance in Companions of the Night, but much better done.)
Anyway, I liked it well enough, but I think this will be enjoyed by younger readers more so than adults.
October 20, 2024
The pig-keeper was there, of course. He gave a shrug as though to say, “Well, I tried, but you keep messing up.”
That quote pretty much sums up this book. I’m angry at myself for not finishing this book before midnight, because this was a terrible flop for my first book of 2024. Deanna is a horrible person to follow as the main character. She constantly complained, showed zero initiative despite being on a 24-hour time limit to do the impossible, and she was utterly useless on her own. Tell me one thing she accomplished herself- I dare you to find something. Pointless and annoying is a devastating combo for a heroine. The other characters are all annoyingly silly. The gags are too drawn out to be funny, and the constant sexual harassment this thirteen-year-old girl endured was just sickening. Is it supposed to be considered “slapstick” as the cover implies? I didn’t find it so. Oliver’s character could have been cool and sympathetic but unfortunately he was severely lacking in personality. Don’t even get me started on the weird, out-of-nowhere romance and jealousy between the girl and her cat. I just… I kind of hated this book.
That quote pretty much sums up this book. I’m angry at myself for not finishing this book before midnight, because this was a terrible flop for my first book of 2024. Deanna is a horrible person to follow as the main character. She constantly complained, showed zero initiative despite being on a 24-hour time limit to do the impossible, and she was utterly useless on her own. Tell me one thing she accomplished herself- I dare you to find something. Pointless and annoying is a devastating combo for a heroine. The other characters are all annoyingly silly. The gags are too drawn out to be funny, and the constant sexual harassment this thirteen-year-old girl endured was just sickening. Is it supposed to be considered “slapstick” as the cover implies? I didn’t find it so. Oliver’s character could have been cool and sympathetic but unfortunately he was severely lacking in personality. Don’t even get me started on the weird, out-of-nowhere romance and jealousy between the girl and her cat. I just… I kind of hated this book.
July 9, 2024
Gabriella is met haar moeder op vakantie in Frankrijk bij haar moeders familie op het platteland. Gabriella praat nauwelijks Frans en is bijna de hele dag alleen met als enige gezelschap de kat Olivier. Op een dag laat ze per ongeluk haar Micky Mouse horloge in de waterput vallen. Als ze er een laatste greep naar doet wordt ze door een hand de put in getrokken en Olivier springt haar achterna. Ze wordt wakker in het Frankrijk van 700 jaar daarvoor en wordt opgewacht door twee Sidhe elfen die boos op haar zijn, omdat het horloge het begin zal zijn van een veranderende wereld waarin zij niet geboren zal zijn. Ze krijgt 24 uur om het horloge terug te vinden voordat de geschiedenis zal beginnen te veranderen. En hulp van Olivier die is verandert in een knappe jongeman. Wel een jongeman met het verstand van een kat, waardoor zijn handelingen nogal al katachtig zijn.
Ze worden welkom geheten door de familie de Belesse, Lord Henri, Lord Algernon en Lady Marquerite en de zonen van Henri, Leonard en Baylen. En de queeste naar het horloge kan beginnen.
Ze worden welkom geheten door de familie de Belesse, Lord Henri, Lord Algernon en Lady Marquerite en de zonen van Henri, Leonard en Baylen. En de queeste naar het horloge kan beginnen.
September 11, 2022
Time travel isn't my fave to begin with.
Editorial remark: Deanna is sitting in front of Baylen, sitting sidesaddle. As the horse speeds up, Deanna throws her arms around Baylen's neck to feel safe. That maneuver would not make her feel safe, nor would it help her be more stable. Nor could Baylen have "swung her around" so she could straddle the horse.
I thought we would have a Wizard of Oz moment when Deanna connects her lessons about judgment to her French relatives once she returned. Guess not. Nor does it make sense how making Oliver a human solves anything. He has no birth records, no family, no way to return with Deanna (whom he "loves") to the States
There were funny moments, despite the annoying brothers.
Editorial remark: Deanna is sitting in front of Baylen, sitting sidesaddle. As the horse speeds up, Deanna throws her arms around Baylen's neck to feel safe. That maneuver would not make her feel safe, nor would it help her be more stable. Nor could Baylen have "swung her around" so she could straddle the horse.
I thought we would have a Wizard of Oz moment when Deanna connects her lessons about judgment to her French relatives once she returned. Guess not. Nor does it make sense how making Oliver a human solves anything. He has no birth records, no family, no way to return with Deanna (whom he "loves") to the States
There were funny moments, despite the annoying brothers.
February 2, 2021
I really wanted to love this book. It had a great premise, lots of good elements (time travel, a cat turned into a most unsettling male companion, humour) and a fantastic writeup on the inside front cover. So much potential. But it felt like everything was under-developed and kind of rushed. Plus there were really weird random elements, like a linoleum path through a medieval forest, that were too weird to be funny, which I think they were meant to be.
August 15, 2023
I just could not get into this book's story. The title of it sounded so familiar so I wondered if I had read it when I went on a Vivian Vande Velde streak back in high school, but nothing rang a bell. However, even less than 24 hours after finishing the book, I feel like I barely remember anything. It was kind of light and humorous, I guess? (Though I can't say it elicited any big chuckles.) There was a cat, who got turned into a boy, so that was somewhat interesting. That's all I got.
October 3, 2024
This was a delightful, little book! It's a creative story about a girl named Deanna, who falls back in time to Medieval France, along with her cat companion, Oliver, and their mission to recover a lost item to make it back to "real life." The tale is about friendship, learning, discovery, and wishes. I really enjoyed this light read and would recommend this book to anyone 10+. It was fun reading!
December 24, 2024
Girl gets stuck in mediaeval France with her cat turned into human.
Fun but it's one of those YA books which is definitely for younger children, like 10 or 11 year Olds, so it was a bit annoying.
The car turned into human is definitely a fun, comical concept. The rest of the book wasn't as funny as it was going for.
Fun but it's one of those YA books which is definitely for younger children, like 10 or 11 year Olds, so it was a bit annoying.
The car turned into human is definitely a fun, comical concept. The rest of the book wasn't as funny as it was going for.
April 21, 2018
I remember receiving this for Christmas one year (can't remember what year though...) and I was so surprised the main character had my name! I've loved it ever since. Spent a lovely afternoon in the sun re-reading this.
January 8, 2020
Ok so, I would never actually recommend this book to anyone, but it's a fairly classic take on the early 90s ya genre before it got all how it is today, and for the nostalgia factor alone, I enjoyed it.
March 6, 2024
Short, simple and fun, but lacking the strong atmosphere that I liked so much in Companions of the Night. This was written for ages 10 & up while CotN is 12 & up and the 2 years really makes a difference.
November 4, 2024
" ... Non era previsto che lei cercasse qualcuno da incolpare: era previsto che cercasse di risolvere quella situazione. ..."
Racconto divertente in cui è evidente che fare le scelte giuste e giudicare il nostro prossimo non è poi così semplice.
Racconto divertente in cui è evidente che fare le scelte giuste e giudicare il nostro prossimo non è poi così semplice.
June 8, 2018
It was cute.
October 20, 2019
I read this book years ago as a pre-teen, and I loved it! I couldn’t remember the name but after lots of searching, found it. Excited to revisit this one.
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