Reviews for Jennifer Scales and the Ancient Furnace

The average rating for Jennifer Scales and the Ancient Furnace based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2008-05-06 00:00:00 Joseph Ragano Reviewed by Jocelyn Pearce for TeensReadToo.com Jennifer Scales is just like any other fourteen-year-old girl. She's going through some...changes. But it's all normal, right? Not exactly. In JENNIFER SCALES AND THE ANCIENT FURNACE (don't let the title keep you away; it's not what it sounds like), Jennifer's parents tell her some...surprising news. She's going to be changing a lot more than most people do at her age. In fact, she's going to be getting scales, horns, and claws--at least some of the time. Jennifer is a weredragon, from her dad's side of the family (her mom never has a tail the way Jennifer and her father do), and her parents waited to tell her until the day of her first morph. Whenever there's a crescent moon, Jennifer, her father, her grandfather, and so many other seemingly normal people turn into dragons. That gives Jennifer a lot to deal with. She's got her friends (who she can't tell), school, and, well, being a fourteen-year-old girl. She's got to put her life on hold, though, when she goes to her grandfather's farm to become a dragon, and learn the skills she needs for that (at first, even standing up is hard!). Jennifer (and all weredragons) also has some ancient enemies, though: beaststalkers (humans with the power to hunt weredragons) and werearachnids (people who turn into giant spiders every crescent moon). As if starting high school wouldn't be hard enough! JENNIFER SCALES AND THE ANCIENT FURNACE is a fast-paced story that I read all in one sitting! The writing isn't particularly remarkable, but it's simple enough to keep the reader focused on the story. The characters all seem pretty realistic, if a bit removed from the narrative. The idea is pretty original--a great spin-off of the less original, and more often written about, idea of werewolves. MaryJanice Davidson and Anthony Alongi's writing allows the reader to easily suspend disbelief, and every bit of the story seems as if it could be happening right now, despite what common sense tells us. This is a fantastic and unique young adult fantasy novel that every fantasy fan (and perhaps those new to fantasy) should read! If you do, you'll certainly want to pick up the next book in the series, JENNIFER SCALES AND THE MESSENGER OF LIGHT.

Review # 2 was written on 2011-01-12 00:00:00 Kenneth Wysowski A weredragon teenager learning to cope with her new abilities sounds great, and that's why I decided to read this book. Unfortunately, the characters were one dimensional, learning about the dragons and their abilities was tedious, and the conflict and danger were bland. Like any teenager Jennifer is full of drama and isn't interested in the points of view of others. That doesn't make her very enjoyable or likable, which got the book off to a bad start. I was getting excited about the idea of a secret dragon retreat where other weredragons gathered, but even in that I was disappointed. I felt like I was reading a textbook instead of an interesting novel. There was nothing fun or interesting about learning new dragon abilities and that was just sad. I continued to read because I hoped for a decent plot, but again I was disappointed. The villains are stereotypical cardboard bad guys, after some object of power, just like they always are. I know this is a young adult novel, but I know that young adult books are capable of being complex and substantial. When I finished Jennifer Scales and the Ancient Furnace I felt like I just wasted my time. Everything that happened felt unimportant, and I never felt a real sense of danger. The writing style didn't sit well with me from the start with the short choppy sentences and lack of description, and the characters were too flat to care about. If Jennifer showed some progression as a character, I may have enjoyed it more. If more of the novel was spent discussing the bad guys and less time was spent flying around the dragon preserve, then we would be getting somewhere. If more description and complexity were added, then we would have a solid three star novel at least. Overall, this book felt amateurish, and that is not a word I have ever used to describe a book before. I don't require too much out of a young adult novel to enjoy it, but every single one of those things was missing here. All I really ask for is enjoyable characters and a decent plot, and this has neither.