Furthermore

Furthermore is a modern fairy tale about a girl named Alice who is born without pigment within a colorful world called Ferenwood. Because Alice lacks color, she is seen as an outcast since color means magic in this world. Alice and Oliver go on an adventure in the world of Furthermore to find Alice's father who disappeared over three years ago. This is Tahereh Mafi's debut middle grade novel and boy it doesn't disappoint. Mafi sends a message to reader's that it is okay to be different. Just because you don't fit in with everyone else, it doesn't mean that you are not loved or special. Everyone is unique in his or her own way. Mafi created a masterpiece and a new classic! The world building is fantastic! Mafi paints the world of Ferenwood and Furthermore perfectly. Her descriptions are lush and vibrant. She captures the emotions of the characters exquisitely. The quirkiness of the book lends itself to all possibilities. Nothing is ruled out in Futhermore. Anything is possible. Alice and Oliver explore different villages in Furthermore, each village with its own quirks and rules. Mafi is extremely creative to make each village one of a kind. The concept of the Surrender for 12-year-olds is quite interesting. At the young age of 12, each child is given a score after presenting their magical ability. Based on the score, each child is given a task to complete based on their magical ability to better Ferenwood. I found Alice's true talent to be charming and ideal for her. Alice can be stubborn at times and is definitely not patient. Oliver grounds Alice. Both characters are well-developed and compliment each other well. Even though they have their differences, they have a common goal. I am glad Alice was able to become more open-minded as the story progresses. Also, her love for bangles is very unique and how every month, she buys a bangle for each month her father is gone. Oliver, on the other hand, uses his talent to charm and lie in order to complete his task quite well. Without his persuasion, Alice and Oliver wouldn't have made it through Furthermore. Their friendship started fairly rough but they become the best of friends by the end of the novel. Futhermore is a splendid and whimsical fairy tale for fans of Harry Potter and Alice in Wonderland. This charming book is one for all ages but be forewarned that there are mentions of cannibalism. Furthermore is a coming-of-age story about acceptance, embracing your talents and discovering your deepest desires.

** spoiler alert ** (4.5 stars) I finally picked up this book (well, virtually because it was on my Kindle) because I’ve been wanting to read it for a while now and because Penguin kindly sent me a finished copy of Whichwood. The book introduces us to Alice, an entirely pale girl living in a town filled with color. She wants to have color and, lacking it, causes her to feel like an outcast. She doesn’t have a good relationship with her family and she is convinced it’s because her father has been gone for so long with hardly a trace. The Surrender, an event for kids to show their powers, causes Alice to look for her father with an old childhood enemy, Oliver. Details I knew just from the cover that I would enjoy this book. I love anything colorful. The details of each village that Alice and Oliver go to is astounding. There’s a village where people stay still and go nuts if you move, a world where people and everything are made of paper, a world called Left, etc. Each world was just nuts, but it actually reminded me so much of Wonderland. I don’t know this myself of course, but I wonder if Tahereh got some inspiration from Alice in Wonderland. In my opinion, this book is a bit crazier than Wonderland. You can’t trust anybody in Furthermore and rightly so until you get right to the end. Tahereh’s descriptions of each village was very enticing, though. It felt like I was dropped right into Furthermore myself. Just like Alice, I didn't want to stay forever either. I hardly think I’d survive. Alice Alice is quite a character and very unique. It’s not just because she is void of any color. This is what makes her special, adding on to the fact that her ability is, ironically, to change the color of anything around her except for herself. This power, though, is her biggest secret. It causes her so much pain and it was hard not to stay on her side. It got rather annoying when Oliver, while in Furthermore, kept trying to treat her like she was an idiot. She knows nothing about this strange world so she has every right to be confused on its rules, customs, people, etc. I do think that she trusts to easily, but it’s because she is meant to see through lies. However, it gets her into trouble sometimes since that ability doesn’t go through into Furthermore. Her strength to find her father, though, is admirable. She is so dead set on finding him and she knows in her heart she is going to find him. That’s the kind of determined behavior I like to see in a character. Oliver This boy is so annoying. He definitely has an ego all because he has been to Furthermore before. He constantly lies to Alice from the beginning, too. He basically tricks her into going with to Furthermore, saying that he knows exactly where her father is and that he has seen him. He puts Alice down through most of the journey, though he apologizes profusely afterward. His ego and pride get the best of him through most of the book and it’s so annoying. Of course, like any male character, he is a “good” guy in the end. I still don’t like him. For a thirteen year old, he sure is bossy and immature. Maybe he’ll learn more respect since the book is done. The Worlds Like I said in the first paragraph above, the different worlds reminded me of another version of Wonderland. It’s crazier than Wonderland, but it’s so enticing. You can eat flowers, obtain magical gifts, enter other worlds. It’s never really said that this is Earth, but there is mention of non-magical folk. The crazy thing is that, in Furthermore, the citizens of the different villages can eat you just if you have magic. It’s like, to them, magic is a drug. They get one sniff and they want more. It’s just crazy that you can't not talk about it or think about it afterward. The Bottom Line I’m trying my best to get more into middle grade books so I’m not stuck in the same social circle of books. I was very pleased with this novel. I was more interested because of the cover, so I’m very happy that the story kept me intrigued. It’s hard to turn away as Alice and Oliver’s journey keeps going with humor, sass, and craziness on every page. There are many lessons to be learned in the story, too. For younger readers who aren’t ready for YA, this is definitely a good starting point before they reach that level.

I liked everything about this book. Very enjoyable, amazing imagination. Would recommend this book for upper elementary school and older.

'... to be different was to be extraordinary, and to be extraordinary was an adventure. It's such a great feeling when you've only just started a book and you know that you're in for a treat, this was my experience with Furthermore. There just seemed to be so much happening simultaneously and I was left wanting to know more about aspects that were only mentioned fleetingly. So many reviewers have likened Furthermore to a fairy tale and I concur because it seemed like a mash up of all the fantastic bits of all my beloved fairy tales; I saw a lot of themes affiliated with Alice in Wonderland, some from Little Red Riding Hood and a bit from Cinderella to name a few that I noticed. I am a lover of fairy tales so it's not surprising that I loved this about Furthermore, what made things better was that Mafi also made it her own despite the familiar themes. I applaud Tahereh Mafi's world-building because I was enthralled with all the locations Alice visited in Furthermore to the extent that in certain places in the story I felt like I was experiencing everything firsthand. There were some parts that just made me happy including the names of certain shops in Ferenwood including Shirini Firini the sweet shop(this made me happy because from the sparse Farsi I know, Shirini means sweets) and Mafi being Iranian-American there was a connection which was very endearing. The description of the center of town alone was fantastic and it made me long to jump into the book and look around alongside Alice. The personification of Ferenwood and Furthermore was executed very well and this was done in so many ways, a particular gem would be: 'Dew had touched the earth and the earth touched back' Alice as a protagonist was a joy to read, she made me cry and made me laugh and best of all I could relate to her in some instances while reading which adds something a bit more personal to any book I read. Yes, one would think there can be no realism in a book so embroiled in fantasy but in Furthermore the feelings are incredibly tangible, particularly those of Alice. I loved her character development throughout her journey as well because at the start she seems naive and set in her ways but towards the ends I felt like she was a different character, more mature yet still having some semblance of childishness. I highly recommend this book to anyone who adored fairy tales and stories that engulf you within them until you close the book!

Ce livre est une perle pour tout adepte du fantastique ! Généralement se fier à la couverture d'un livre est déconseillé mais ici la beauté de l'écriture et de l'histoire est équivalente à celle de la couverture ! Une histoire d'amitié, de courage et d'amour tout ça sur fond d'une explosion de couleurs !

The world of Furthermore is a magical one and I would love to live in it! It's beautifully written and the world building is brilliant! Don't expect it to be like the Shatter Me trilogy, it's a completely different world! But you will still love it :)

I bought this book just because the look of the cover is excellent but i am happy after reading because even the story is excellent. This is a middle rade fantasy fiction book. Thia tells about the story of a girl who will be born in a magical world and she will be in search of her father. I dont want to talk more about this book because I want everyone to read this book. This Is an excellent book hich is full of magical. Must book for all fantasy lovers. The author writing style is very simple and easy to understand.