Endymion Spring
I think I bought this off a bargain book table sometime around 2007. I’d never heard of it or the author before or since. I’d say it’s more Middle Grade than YA, though it’s a bit slow and uneventful for a MG audience. Blake, the main character, is bland and not at all memorable. His little sister, nicknamed Duck (I actually can’t remember if anyone ever says her real name) is less bland and unmemorable, but she’s also kind of (really) insufferable. Oxford and the Bodleian Library make for an interesting setting, and the parts of the story set in the 1400s make a decent short story by themselves, but the novel as a whole is unremarkable. The writing isn’t bad (brief, random, sudden POV shifts notwithstanding), and it’s mildly entertaining. It’s a quick, easy read, but not one I can recommend with any amount of enthusiasm.
