I really liked the Choose Your Own Adventure books as a kid. Well, maybe I liked the idea of them, as the actual execution was ... spotty at best. Some better than others. But it's a neat idea- you start out with a premise, and then make choices. Your choices determine the path of the story, and your eventual fate. There are good endings and bad endings (more bad than good, if you ask me, but that's just based on my recollections, not on any real analysis). So when I saw this on vacation last year, I picked it up, and finally got around to reading it this week.
In this one you are an undersea explorer looking for Atlantis.
These are good for kids. This one is light and fluffy, not too i depth, and frankly the novelty might wear off quickly even for a child, although that may be my adult viewpoint talking. It says there are 42 endings, and I really didn't think any of them were that compelling. The writing is pretty amateurish, seems like, but then they were never known for stellar writing. What is interesting is that when presented with choices, you often end up with totally results, even though you're going the same place via a different route. So it seems completely random in that sense.
Another note- this is the revised version of this book. The original Choose Your Own Adventure books came out in the late 70's and throughout the 80's, whereas these are the 2000's version. Same author, revised text (I think) and different artist. I've heard online that the older versions are better.
I agree with you about liking the concept better than the execution. I always died - pretty quickly and normally horribly. It does sound like a fun way to spend an hour or so but maybe better from the library than spending money on them?
ReplyDeleteI use to LOVE Choose your own adventure books, I think my son would love them, however I would prefer he reads the old ones we use to read instead of these but I think he might enjoy either one, honestly. Great review, Greg!
ReplyDeleteI thought there were some ebooks doing this now. Not necessarily kid based. Neal Patrick Harris's book was like that, no?
ReplyDeleteI think maybe choosing is too much work - especially if the outcome isn't loverly. Have an awesome week.