Furthermore | IMAGINATION GONE WILD! {Review}

Title: Furthermore

Author: Tahereh Mafi

Genre: Middle Grade, Fantasy

Published: August 30, 2016 by Dutton Children’s Books

A captivating and colorful adventure that reads like a modern day fairy tale, from the bestselling author of the Shatter Me series.

Inspired by her childhood love of books like A Secret Garden and The Chronicles of Narnia, bestselling author Tahereh Mafi crafts a spellbinding new world where color is currency, adventure is inevitable, and friendship is found in the most unexpected places.

There are only three things that matter to twelve-year-old Alice Alexis Queensmeadow: Mother, who wouldn’t miss her; magic and color, which seem to elude her; and Father, who always loved her. The day Father disappears from Ferenwood he takes nothing but a ruler with him. But it’s been almost three years since then, and Alice is determined to find him. She loves her father even more than she loves adventure, and she’s about to embark on one to find the other.

But bringing Father home is no small matter. In order to find him she’ll have to travel through the mythical, dangerous land of Furthermore, where down can be up, paper is alive, and left can be both right and very, very wrong. It will take all of Alice’s wits (and every limb she’s got) to find Father and return home to Ferenwood in one piece. On her quest to find Father, Alice must first find herself—and hold fast to the magic of love in the face of loss.

In Furthermore, imagination exhibits NO RESTRAINT. It’s blessed with complete freedom: from towns of paper crinkling in two-dimensions to cities whistling atop trees with eggshell-houses hanging happily from branches. And let’s not forget those magicked rulers and edible tulips. The world is a wonderland!

Tahereh Mafi’s powerfully scrumptious vocabulary will explode vibrant visuals and sensations throughout your mind. Your eyes will widen, your ears will listen, your nose will sniff, your tongue will savor, you hands will graze, your heart will feel—oh, it’ll feel all right.
Our charming MC, Alice, is rather underapprecaited. Which is quite relatable! I mean, I wash the dishes without anyone even asking, and who thanks me and showers me with gold pearls and fiery petals? NOBODY. I take my dog out without anyone asking, and who thanks me and showers me with gold pearls and fiery petals? NOBODY. Honestly, I’m so sick of no one appreciating my talent, hard work, and determination. So thank you, Alice, for being the character who understands me.
Furthermore = the inspiration all writer’s need. Any wordsmith immersed in Tahereh Mafi’s verbose bath will step out dripping with a fiercer motivation to create.

Now y’all hear me—I LOVE THE WRITING. But. There was so much description. SO MUCH. And because of the creativity prancing from page to page, there was so much to describe, so much to understand. The writing shifts too quickly from lyric beauty to overwhelming verbosity.

Furthermore is rushed and brushed up into a conclusion WAY TOO DARN QUICK. It was especially unsettling because of the beginning of the story, which took its sweet time. And then, you take a bite of your cinnamon roll and blink, and the book’s done! Conclusions are vital, they need balance—not too much time, not too little. Unfortunately, Furthermore failed for me in that aspect.