Review - Circle

Circle (The Shapes Trilogy #3)
by Mac Barnett
illustrated by Jon Klassen
Date: 2019
Publisher: Walker Books
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 48
Format: e-book
Source: NetGalley

Multi-award-winning, New York Times best-selling duo Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen deliver the final wry and resonant tale about Triangle, Square, and Circle.

This book is about Circle. This book is also about Circle's friends, Triangle and Square. Also it is about a rule that Circle makes, and how she has to rescue Triangle when he breaks that rule. With their usual pitch-perfect pacing and subtle, sharp wit, Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen come full circle in the third and final chapter of their clever shapes trilogy.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

I think maybe I'm missing something. I didn't think this one was that great. It had me engaged right up until the end, but then it got really juvenile, the book almost screaming, "I'M A CHILDREN'S BOOK!"

Circle, Triangle, and Square play hide-and-seek. Circle has a rule that nobody's supposed to go behind her waterfall, but of course one of her friends does, which necessitates a rescue operation. They find more than they bargained for in the space behind the waterfall, and I was eagerly flipping the pages until... there just weren't any more pages. We're left with a rather unsatisfying ending.

The pictures are okay. I did like the waterfall. The shapes are basic, but they're basic shapes; there's not a lot you can do with an anthropomorphized circle, triangle, and square.

Maybe I would've gotten more out of this book if I'd read the first two in the series. It seems like it should be able to stand on its own. But I'm not sure if it really does; I'm left feeling like I missed something important.

Thank you to NetGalley and Walker Books for providing a digital ARC.

Premise: 2/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 2/5
Illustrations: 3/5
Originality: 3/5

Enjoyment: 2/5

Overall: 2.33 out of 5