Don't Bother Saving It for Harry Potter - Ickabog Falls Short

I pre-ordered Ickabog as soon as I found out J.K. Rowling had a new book coming out, without even checking the blurb or reviews. The cheapest price for it was at Detsky Mir, provided you bought two books from their promotional selection. I grabbed the second one for 50 rubles. Both books qualified for a 30% discount, so I paid 413 rubles for Ickabog and 35 rubles for the second, smaller book.

I had to wait two weeks for delivery, as the books were shipped from Moscow by DPD, which didn't even show up on the planned delivery day, January 4th. The next day, they said they could deliver it the following day, but that was really inconvenient. My order finally arrived on January 9th with a courier who woke up my kid. Let's just say the delivery wasn't magical, but I did get my book, albeit much later than I'd hoped. The promotion ends on January 13th, so you can still buy Ickabog at the lowest price.

Okay, let's get to the good stuff.

"Ickabog" is a new, heartwarming, and thrilling story by J.K. Rowling about a terrifying monster, incredible adventures, and hope that stays with you no matter what.

First thing that struck me is, of course, the cover. It's extremely beautiful. Double-layered, with a dark blue, velvety texture on the inside, and a super-cover made of thick cardboard with gold foil and partial lamination. This is just some kind of tactile and visual delight. The super-cover is printed on a tachycard material, which gives it that velvety-brocade effect. It's so smooth you just want to keep touching it and don't want to let it go. The inner parts of the cover have the blurb and a brief bio of Rowling. There's a colorful portrait of her, where she looks like a wise, fairy-tale queen.

However, let's be honest, the super-cover is a nice touch, but it's also a bit of a problem. It adds to the production cost, and it's hard to keep it in good condition if the book is actually read and loved, especially by kids. A kid in the target age group of 6-10 will tear it to shreds. And adults don't need it. I think the super-cover appeared because in the UK, they re-released Harry Potter with a super-cover because grown-ups were embarrassed to read a kids' book on public transport. Ickabog isn't the kind of thing adults will carry with them, trust me. A logical move would have been to release the book with a super-cover design, but with a regular cover option – that would have been perfect.

Forza and the front and back covers are in the same style as some dark blue trees. The cap (root) is glued and sewn with golden thread. The lass (bookmarks) are missing, but for some reason, I really missed it.

Pages are thin, made of very white high-quality paper. They're not glossy, not textured, just regular. Printing is done with black ink, font is large, and interline spacing is decent. The book is divided into small chapters with two to three to five pages each. Each chapter starts on a separate page and has a tiny illustration. At the end, there's a little icon if the chapter ends on a page or in the middle of one.

The text has illustrations scattered all over, made by kids from the country where you buy the book. Our kids drew them. The level of talent varies, as does the age, mostly between 7 and 12 years old. I wasn't too fond of the fact that the illustrations often preceded what was happening in the text.

The fact that non-professional illustrators were used has a mixed reaction from me. On the one hand, it's a cool activity for kids to get their work in a book. On the other hand, the results... well, let's just say I'm a fan of professional illustrations. I carefully choose children's books because I remember how much I hated poorly illustrated books as a kid. In short, if this book were to come out with professional illustrations and better paper quality, I'd reorder it and sell this one without a second thought. But that's just my opinion, and I understand that there are people who'd value this book exactly for the kids' drawings.The book has a table of contents at the end. Age restriction 6+ I think it's reasonable, considering there are deaths and other dark stuff in the book. It's not overly detailed, but it's there. The publisher, Mahaon, is also releasing other books, like Harry Potter and the universe of G.P. I don't have a huge love for their books, but I didn't really care who published this one, so I bought it without much thought.

Official description: I've got to say, the kingdom of Cornicopia was once the richest and happiest place on earth. The king was famous for his ridiculously epic mustache. The bakers, butchers, cheesemongers, and winemakers were creating such delicious treats and drinks that people who got to taste them would cry tears of joy. The country was thriving, the people were happy. But, of course, there's always a dark cloud looming somewhere. In the misty, gloomy Smurland to the north, there were whispers about the Icabog, a terrifying swamp monster. Nobody believed in the mythical creature from the fairy tale, until one night it became all too real. Will the fairy tale monster bring down the king and destroy the prosperity of the entire kingdom? Will the bedtime story turn into a deadly adventure for two little kids? Can hope, truth, and true friendship conquer even the darkest of evils? If you've got the guts, turn the page and dive into the new, mysterious world of Joanne Rowling - one of the best storytellers out there!

I'm not sure if Joanne Rowling wrote this herself or if our local publishers came up with it. Either way, I'm inclined to believe it's the latter.

I didn't like the summary. It was ridiculously long and boring, with way too many unnecessary details. The first chapter was just as bad. I even started reading it aloud to my 8-month-old daughter, but that didn't work out. I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone - read it myself and get her interested in it too. But nope, it was a total snooze-fest. Too many flowery descriptions, made-up names, and convoluted plotlines set in four different cities. I skimmed through the end of the intro about the cities' goals and moved on to the good stuff. It took a while to get going, but I'll give you the short version without any spoilers. The plot. One country was ruled by a self-absorbed, stupid, and cowardly king who was manipulated by his two advisors, a sly and a fat one. The country was thriving, and everything was great, until an old shepherd came to the king on the annual petition day. He asked the king to deal with the swamp monster called Icabog, which had eaten his dog. The king agreed because the kids had recently called him a coward, and that really got under his skin. That night, on the swamp, something went down in the thick fog, and someone died. To cover it up, the sly and fat advisor bribed the royal guards and lied to the king, saying it was Icabog who did it. They silenced anyone who disagreed or intimidated them. The web of lies just kept getting thicker and thicker, all driven by economic motives - collecting taxes and enriching those two advisors. The king was shown a twisted version of reality, where everything was still great, but the bribed soldiers were secretly terrorizing people, leaving behind Icabog's paw prints. Life just kept getting worse and worse, year after year, until the son of the first soldier 'killed' by Icabog on the swamp grew up. The kid vowed to take down the monster, and that's when things really got going.At its core, Icabog is a mix of the Emperor's New Clothes and Pinocchio, written in the style of dark classic fairy tales like the Brothers Grimm. It's definitely a kids' book, not really interesting for adults. I don't have any kids old enough to read it and give me their opinion - my daughter is still too young, and my brother-in-law's niece is more into TikTok than books. She hasn't even watched Harry Potter, let alone read a book. Maybe Icabog is really for kids aged 5 to 10, or maybe a couple of years older if the kid is still a kid at heart and loves reading, or if they're into Rowling's work.

I have to say, I'm not exactly the target audience for this book. But I'll give you the lowdown. The author mentions in the preface that she was working on this and another project at the same time - the other one being a book for her kids. But her computer crashed, and the other book was stuck in a box on the attic until the lockdown. Anyway, she finally got to finish this one, and it ended up in my hands. I was excited to dive in and experience the magic of Christmas. I was even a little squealy when I opened the packaging, because the cover design is just amazing... and that's it. The content itself didn't exactly live up to my expectations.So, what's the verdict?

Apparently, the kids who were waiting for the first Harry Potter books were buying them on release day and waiting years for the movies. I was one of those kids. That's probably why I still buy Rowling's books without hesitation - especially around the holidays (I ordered this one on December 28). If you're an adult without kids, you can either buy this for your collection or just take a look online. If you have kids, you can buy it, but you don't have to. On its own, the book doesn't have much value. The cover is nice, the illustrations are subpar (for me, not the kid who drew them), and the story is just okay. There's too much violence, silly names, and titles - thanks, translator! The ending is interesting and unexpected, so that's a plus.

Overall, it feels like they just published the ending as it was in the rough draft - short and to the point. The middle of the book is just padded out with too many pages. I would have preferred a more subtle, concise, and meaningful book if I'm being honest.

So, if you're not desperate, I'd recommend waiting a year or two and seeing if they re-release it in a different version with better illustrations and a more compact format. If you're set on getting it, go for it - maybe it'll become a collector's item if they do re-release it.

As a kid's book from a kid's author, I'd give it a solid four stars and recommend it. But don't expect a second Harry Potter from this one - it's just a decent kid's book that you'll only re-read if your kid suddenly develops an irrational obsession with it.

So, what's the verdict on this product? I've been using it for a while now, and I've gotta say, it's been a solid addition to my daily routine. The customer support has been top-notch, and I've had no issues with returns when I needed to exchange something. The shipping was pretty quick too, considering I'm on the other side of the country. All in all, I'd say it's a great value for money - you get what you pay for, and then some. I'm really happy with my purchase, and I'd definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a reliable product.