Monday, September 17, 2018

Artemis Fowl Series Reread: My Thoughts


I reread the first Artemis Fowl book every single year but it had been a long while since I reread the entire series so at the start of 2018 one of my bookish resolutions was to reread a book in the Artemis Fowl series every month until I finished and I completed my challenge at the end of August and it was amazing!
So today I'm just going to talk a little bit about my experience and which books in the series are my favorite.
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                                           Backstory
Once upon a time when I was 13 or 14 (I can't remember exactly but it was around that age) I headed to the library, which I did a lot (๐Ÿ˜†) and this book caught my eye. The cover was beautiful in gold and sparkly. I picked it up and browsed the synopsis on the back and was intrigued right away because I read the book was about fairies and that wasn't exactly something I had read before at that point so I decided to borrow it. This book, of course, was Artemis Fowl. 


The story instantly hooked me and I remember I even went back a couple of months later to borrow it again because I loved it so much. And ever since then Artemis Fowl has been my favorite book ever. 


                                                  Now
I'm 26 now and I'm still rereading Artemis Fowl every year. I just love picking up the book because it really feels like coming home. I know the story by heart. I can't really make a guess as to how many times I've actually read the book but it's quite a lot and when I was younger I reread the entire series frequently because back then I didn't really have a lot of access to new books or anticipate many releases so I basically just reread the same books over and over. Anyway, it had been a while since I did a reread of the series so I just decided to do it this year and it was the best decision ever. I loved picking up a book every month. I really enjoyed it and I'm surprised by how some thoughts about the books in the series have changed. I will write down those thoughts below.


                Thoughts and books rating
Here I will rate my favorite to least favorite books of the series, although I don't really have a least favorite because I really do love all the books but you get what I mean, right?

The first book
5/5★

I don't think it's very surprising (at least not to me) that the first Artemis Fowl book is still my favorite. It's the book that started it all and the book I know the best. It introduced the amazing characters of Artemis, Holly, Butler, Mulch, Foaly, Juliet and many others. So I don't see how it couldn't be my favorite. I. LOVE. IT. SO. MUCH.

#2: The Opal Deception
The fourth book
5/5★

This book has kind of always been my favorite even though it's easily the book that's the most sad. I don't really want to say why because I feel like that would be a huge spoiler but it involves a character's death. I remember well when I first read this book I had to go back and read that particular scene again because I just couldn't believe it. I think this was also my first experience with a beloved character dying. But even though it's a sad book it's also a fantastic book. The nonstop action really did it for me with this one. 

#3: The Last Guardian
The final book
5/5★

I think a lot of people who've read the entire series will probably not agree with this being so high on the list of favorites in the series. It actually surprised me too. I'll explain... The last time I read this book was when it came out back in 2012 and when I had finished the book I couldn't help feeling a little bit disappointed with the ending that was a bit left open. Now that I've reread it for the first time I feel like I appreciate open endings more and this book was actually freaking amazing and easilt the third best one. I also gotta mention Opal Koboi. The archnemesis of Artemis and Holly. I hate her, obviously but I kind of love her too because she was just so evil and insane. Does that make sense? Haha

The seventh book
5/5★

Again I feel this book isn't high on most people's list when talking about their favorite Artemis Fowl books. But I actually loved it so much for several reasons. One of them was that this book was a little different because of Artemis himself. This is the seventh book and after all the adventures he had and especially because of the time travel in book six he had developed a psychosis called the Atlantis Complex and this made Artemis' alter ego Orion appear. And let's just say that Orion isn't at all like how Artemis is in his normal state of mind. It was freaking hilarious and that's why it's number 4. (Ha-ha. Those who's read this book will understand why this is also funny)

#5: The Arctic Incident
The second book
5/5★

Book two is really interesting because Holly is still feeling angry about everything that happened in book one and she wants a sort of revenge on Artemis but they end up having to work together to save Artemis' father from the Russian mob. Not a top favorite in the list but still five star worthy for me.

The third book
5/5★

This book is probably where Artemis started getting more softer and friendly toward the fairies. Although that doesn't mean he wasn't up to some shenanigans after he stole some fairy tech. Things get real when Butler gets hurt real bad and Holly has to safe him. This is also the book where Artemis realizes things could've ended real bad for him and especially Butler, who's almost like a father to him, even though in book 2 Artemis got his actual father back. His bond with Butler can't be broken though. I really love their relationship, which isn't just bodyguard and principal but also a real friendship. Butler cares so much about Artemis. It's so beautiful!

#7: The Time Paradox
The sixth book
5/5★

This book could get a bit confusing, I must admit. I still loved it but as you can guess from the title it had to do with time travel, which is always kind of confusing. At the end of book 6 Artemis came back after being gone for three years (wibbily wobbly timey wimey). He now has twin brothers and he's actually trying 
to be a good big brother to them. Then his mother started getting sick and no
human doctor could figure out why. And of course he turns to magic, time
travel to be exact. I had a really good time reading this book because it had been 
so long and I had honestly forgotten what it was all about so it was fun to kind
of rediscover it all.

#8: The Lost Colony
The fifth book
4/5★

So this is the only Artemis Fowl book where I changed the rating from the initial 5/5to 4/5. Don't get me wrong, this wasn't a bad book at all. Obviously four stars is really good as well but I just felt it wasn't as good as the others and it just missed a little something extra. I did love the introduction of the character of Number One. I've just aways loved him and also liked his appareances in some of the other books. The character of Minerva is one I should probably mention too. She was supposed to be the girl equivalent of Artemis but I never really did like her. And she also never came quite to Artemis' intellect in my opnion. I'm glad she never showed up again in any of the other books.




  The Movie and Fowl Twins Books


The movie:
I'm super excited about the upcoming movie that's set to release in 2019. There have been a lot of rumors of a movie over the last few years so I still can't quite believe that it's actually happening last year. I just can't wait to go to the movie theater and finally see my favorite book as a movie. Now, I do know that there will be a lot of changes like Holly being played by a kid (she's not a kid in the books) but I'm keeping an open mind about that until I see the movie. Another change is that they made Root a female. Initially I was a little upset about that because a big part of the books is about Holly being the first female captain in the LEP and that takes a little away from that but Judi Dench is playing Root and somehow I don't care about that anymore because I love Judi Dench so I think it should be okay. Other than that I haven't heard of anything else that might be different but I'm sure there will be so I'm trying not to go in with too many expectations. One thing I'm super excited about though is Mulch Diggums being played by Josh Gad. He's going to be utterly perfect as Mulch. Best casting ever in my opinion. I think I'll definitely do a movie review when I finally get to see the movie. It should release in August 2019 but I don't know the exact date for Belgium yet so we'll see.

The Fowl Twins books:
A few months ago it was announced that Eoin Colfer is writing a book about Artemis Fowl's younger twin brothers and I thought my heart would explode because I'd always wanted more books set in this world. The first book is set to release in 2020.
From Goodreads:
Artermis Fowl's younger twin brothers, Myles and Beckett, after being left alone for just one night, must save a troll from a nefarious nobleman and an interrogating nun--each of whom need the magical creature for their own gain.

It sounds freaking awesome and I don't think I'll be able to contain my excitement when the book will be released. I'm SO excited!

Also want to mention that the Artemis Fowl books will get new covers too, which is something I'm also very excited for because I've wanted new covers for ages. Especially for the first book because my copy is kind of falling apart. So this would be perfect and how beautiful are they?! I simply must have them all!


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Have you read Artemis Fowl? Are you also excited for the movie? Let me know!



9 comments:

  1. I love that you reread the entire series! I honestly didn't know there were 8 books in this series, so I'm glad I read your post๐Ÿ˜€

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  2. I love finding a series that you can just continue to follow and rely on for so many good stories!

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  3. I sadly skipped out on this series as a kid but maybe I'll try them as audiobooks? I'm so glad that you enjoyed your reread. I always reread my favorites when I'm feeling sad or I'm in a book slump.

    Thanks for sharing,
    ~Brittany @ Brittany's Book Rambles

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  4. I've listened to the first two in audiobook and loved them (Although there's no version that I wouldn't love so I may be a little biased? xD)

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  5. No matter what happens in life I can always rely on these books to make me happy!

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  6. I might do it again next year or reread Colfer's other books but I'm not sure yet. Maybe I'll do both. lol

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  7. I honestly can't remember if I've read book 1 or not. I do remember seeing it everywhere when it got super popular

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  8. And it's set to become pretty popular again next year I think with the movie and new covers coming out + spin-off series in 2020. I can't wait!

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  9. I wnated to draw hearts around your Backstory -- I love it when books make us feel like that!

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