Inkheart (Inkworld #1)

Inkheart (Inkworld #1)
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Genre(s)
Age Range
10+
Release Date
October 06, 2003
ISBN
0439531640
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Twelve-year-old Meggie learns that her father, who repairs and binds books for a living, can "read" fictional characters to life when one of those characters abducts them and tries to force him into service.

Characters from books literally leap off the page in this engrossing fantasy. Meggie has had her father to herself since her mother went away when she was young. Mo taught her to read when she was five, and the two share a mutual love of books. He can "read" characters out of books. When she was three, he read aloud from a book called Inkheart and released characters into the real world. At the same time, Meggie's mother disappeared into the story. This "story within a story" will delight not just fantasy fans, but all readers who like an exciting plot with larger-than-life characters.

Editor reviews

2 reviews
Some characters should only be imagined...
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5.0
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Imagine, if you will, that you could meet Snow White or Cinderella or Harry Potter. Who would pass up a chance at that? But what if, instead of Harry, you got Voldemort?

Brief warning: this review will contain some spoilers. If you don't want to learn too many details (I promise I won't give out too much more than you can find on the dust jacket, but some people don't want any elements spoiled), stop here and just go out and buy the book. It's good. You'll like it.

Meggie's father, Mo, has an incredible talent that has earned him the nickname of Silvertongue. He can read characters from books out of their own worlds and into ours. The problem is, he doesn't know which character is coming. Even worse, someone else might disappear into the book.

That's what happens one night as Mo is reading a fantasy book to his wife and baby Meggie. Teresa, Meggie's mother, disappears and in her place is the vile and evil Capricorn, along with some of his henchmen and a strange fellow called Dustfinger. That all happened years ago, as the story starts up with Meggie at age twelve. She doesn't know of her father's talent or the real story of her mother's disappearance. She just knows that they have to move a lot.

Once Dustfinger appears again in their lives, Meggie, her father, and her mother's sister Elinor (a grim and forbidding booklover who you will learn to love as the book goes on) find themselves in the middle of a strange adventure. Capricorn has recruited a regular thieve's den and is determined to get Mo back in his clutches to help him amass a fortune beyond imagination.

The story builds with one precarious capture and escape after another and takes many twists and turns. You won't be able to put this book down once you pick it up, because you just don't know what is going to happen next.

A very satisfying fantasy read, I highly recommend this book to readers 10 and up. Younger readers may find Capricorn's band of cutthroats scary (and rightfully so). While the heroine is a girl, this book should also appeal to boys quite easily.
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51 reviews
 
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4.6
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Awesome
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5.0
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5.0
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Meggie is a girl who lives with her dad, Mo, who repairs books. He also makes books come to life when he reades them, literally. Soon, she finds herself in her own fairytale, and in every fairytale, there is a villain, and in this case, it's Capricorn. Meggie will have to use the skill that brought Capricorn into this world, to make him dissapear once again.

I loved reading this book! I could just imagine myself in Meggie's shoes. I really felt like i was in the story! Whenever I think about this book, I remember all of the adventures I had reading it. I just really loved the story. This is one of those books I will always remember.
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When imagination sets in..
(Updated: March 21, 2012)
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4.0
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4.0
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In the novel, Inkheart by Cornelia Funke, Meggie’s father, Mortimer, has the ability to read people out of books and into them. Throughout the course of the book, many characters are read out from books and Meggie’s mother was read into a book one night when Mortimer was reading to Meggie. One of the characters that came out of the book, Capricorn, doesn’t let Mortimer try and save his wife and wants to use his powers for his own benefits. What will happen in order to save her?

The book is unpredictable because you don’t know what Meggie and Mortimer will do in order to save their mother. It gets very interesting because I think the setting is perfect for the mood. At times in the book, when the mood is gloomy, the setting is normally at night. I started liking the book, right when I started reading it because it contains many different types of fantasy, such as a magical creature. Although sometimes in the book it gets a bit boring, I’m always attracted to keep reading because the author uses detailed descriptions to describe every scene in the book. The author uses interesting dialogue by throwing in big adjectives making it more detailed. Also, there is always a picture of something related to the chapter at the end of each chapter. I personally like how the author uses pictures at the end of each chapter because usually the pictures are attractive. For example, one of them is the drawn picture of a characters pet. The drawings and pictures are really realistic as if you can imagine it right then. This gives a better picture of what is happening.

Throughout the story, the characters are believable because of their actions and character traits. Meggie is a young brave girl who goes on the journey to try and save her mother. They face many difficulties on the way. As the story progresses, She grows both mentally and physically showing more responsibilities that she can handle. On the other hand, Capricorn, an evil boss that came out of a book, is greedy and only cares about himself. He calls Mortimer to his village so he can make Mortimer read him books that will give him money, hoping to become rich.

Overall I would give this book a 4 or 5 star rating because sometimes I feel like the author can express more on something or make a different ending, but the book is still very interesting. I would suggest this book to anyone who likes fantasy and suspenseful stories. They will enjoy the book a lot.
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inkheart
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5.0
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5.0
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Reader reviewed by ken

inkheart was one of  the best books i have ever read.to read inkheart you have to have an active imagination.inkheart is a long book but when you start reading it it does not seem long.go on out and get inkheart at your library or you can buy it.
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Wonderful imagination!
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5.0
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5.0
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Reader reviewed by Victoria Morris

This was the second book I read by Cornelia Funke, and I fell in LOVE with it almost from the first page!
Her characters are fabulous, her settings so rich with detail and drive that I felt I was right along side Mo as he drove, as he walked through book stores and as he lovingly touched each book like it was alive.  
So much about this series is wonderful, before I was even done with this one I had Inkspell ordered...but I had to then wait several years for Inkdeath to be printed in English (an odd turn of events...usually we're first!)
It was wonderful to RETURN to Inkheart to be with the characters again for each new release and especially for the release of the movie!
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great
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5.0
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5.0
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Reader reviewed by pam

i think that the book was great. maggie's dad can read people out of book, how cool is that! when she was little her dad accidently read bad guys from the book and maggie's mom into the book. years later she finds out that she can do that too. this book is full of magic and secrets that maggie had not known until her dad's past comes to get them.
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Very Good
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5.0
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5.0
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Reader reviewed by Mairi

One night, Meggie looks out her bedroom window to see a man, who calls himself Dustfinger and refers to her father Mo as Silvertongue, standing in the yard, and after that her life is never the same again. Dustfinger and his marten Gwin, she soon learns, come from another world, a world that exists only between the pages of a book. Nine years ago, Mo accidently read them out of their home along with the villain of the story- Capricorn.

Years ago, this book was one of my favorites, and I decided to reread it after I read Inkdeath. I maintain that Inkdeath is the best book in the trilogy, but Inkheart does have a sort of magic to it that Inkdeath lacks. It is also most beautiful when read by someone who knows how the story is going to end, as there are occasional references to Meggie looking back on the events described years later.


 

All in all, the Inkworld Trilogy is an excellent fantasy, but Inkheart should be read by all book lovers, who will probably want to read it over and over again as I do- it gets better every time.
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Some charachters should only be imagined
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5.0
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Reader reviewed by Shea Burnett

This is the best book ever!!!!!!! It is about a girl named Meggie who lives with her father Mo, she can barley remember her mother and wonders what happened to her since her father never talks about her. But one night when she looks out the window a stranger apears and his name is Dustfinger. Soon she learns that her father Mo has the power to read charachters out of books, but there is a price, for every person that comes out another must go in. Meggie finds out that, that was the fate of her mother and when she and her father are captured by the villian in the story inkheart it is up to her to save the day by using her untouched power(like her fathers) to read capricorn back into the book. But there is a catch, Capricorn wants her to read out the shadow, an evil thing that does his will and kills on contact with the person.How is she to save her father and stop the shadow from being summoned? Find out in the book Inkheart!!!!!!!!
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Magical and Enchanting...
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5.0
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Reader reviewed by Millie

Inkheart is a book you will never want to put down, but at the same time you want to. You never want the story to end, because you can't possibly imagine an ending.

Meggie, Mo, and many other characters make the story so real that you feel as if you were read into the book yourself

With the sequel Inkspell, and the third one, Inkdeath, you will fall in love with this trilogy
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terribly hard to put down once things pick up
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3.0
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3.0
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Reader reviewed by melissa

as my title goes, this book is terribly hard to put down once things pick up. it's a story abouta a story and things can go crazy with bits of magic, spells, good vs. evil and the craziness that goes with secrets. meggie is a great person and easy to relate to and has the reader wodnering if she'll ever find her motehr and get out of this mess. her father is amazing  and her aunt gives a bit of humor. with love lost and the evil capricorn in charge, is there any way to not see how a book about loving books can go worng. i thought this boo kwas exciting, full of action and suspense and bewildered me.
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Makes reading feel like daydreaming
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3.0
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3.0
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Reader reviewed by MssJos

Meggie and Mo are just about as content as a father and daughter can be. Living together in an old farmhouse for the time being, Meggie isn't even bothered by all the moving around they do as long as she has her dad and her books. When a mysterious stranger appears at Meggie's window in the middle of the night, Meggie and her dad escape to Meggie's great Aunt Elinor's.




Meggie soon learns of her dad's amazing ability to read characters right out of books and into reality. While Meggie is both impressed and envious of this talent, it is soon clear that her father has altered their lives forever by using his gift unintentionally. Struggling to find her way out of a dark and desperate situation, Meggie soon learns the truth about her family's past and her own special gifts.

This is a great novel about inner-strength and family. It is also entertaining and fun to read. Funke reminds readers that even gifts come with a price.
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