Book Review: A Wrinkle in Time

Book: A Wrinkle in Time (A Wrinkle in Time book #1) by Madeleine L'Engle

Edition: Paperback

Rating: 3 stars

Review:

A Wrinkle in Time follows Margaret "Meg" Murry who along with her little brother Charles Wallace and their new friend Calvin O'Keefe go on a rescue attempt to save Meg and Charles Wallace's father, Mr. Murry. Mr. Murry, a scientist who had been working on a special project, had been gone for so long that people in town had started to make little remarks and spread rumors as to why he left. Which irritated and angered Meg a great deal.

To make things worse, there had not been a hint as to where Mr. Murry was especially since all communication stopped between him and Meg and Charles Wallace's mother who was also a scientist. It wasn't until Charles Wallace's new friends Mrs. Who, Mrs. Whatsit and Mrs. Which, who are indeed a strange and unusual group of ladies, took them on an unexpected adventure to find Mr. Murry.

The Mrs. W's took them to distant planets as a way to prepare them for the challenge of finding Mr. Murry and to make them understand about an encroaching evil growing across the universe. After making their way to the planet Camazotz where Mr. Murry was at, the kids were on their own since the Mrs. W's could go no further.

The three kids soon had to figure out how to find Mr. Murry and to not get affected by the evil that has taken over the planet.

I've never been at a loss for words to describe a book until I read A Wrinkle in Time. This is a strange and weird little book but it did hold my interest. One of the main problems I had with this book was that there was a lot of vagueness in this. From the character description which lacked in a lot of ways to the overall story itself which at times made it hard to get a good understanding of where it was going. I was also disappointed that the story moved on so quickly from things that were introduced as well as not really expanding on it nor being more descriptive.

This was a decent read perhaps not something I would rush to read again. I felt like some of the story was a little unimaginative and cliché as it focused on the theme of good vs evil with a bit of sci-fi tossed in. However, there were things that I enjoyed such as Meg who was smart, feisty and headstrong but she does have her fault of being very petulant at times. Charles Wallace was an interesting character, he was smart and for a little kid he had an old soul. The author did a good job with the creepiness of conformity on Camazotz but there was still this vagueness that plagued the story.

Although the book wasn't necessarily my favorite, I am still interested in wanting to see the movie. I want to see what aspects of the book made it into the film as well as any changes. I'm not sure I will continue on with the series but I am glad I finally read the first book.