dear jasmine, 
 you and i are so diametrically opposed in all things literary. i swear i am not rating this on the lower side just to retaliate for your not loving winshaw legacy. if the truth be told, it's higher than a three, but i feel like i give out a lot of fours, and i think i may have failed this book rather than this book failing me. failing like the way i am going to fail this computer class - i.e. - spectacularly. it had a lot of things to make me respond positively - there were some truly memorable scenes: the showdown between master wu and the ninjas was really beautifully done, the found thousand was another gorgeous part, ike thermite is incredibly lovable and badass - there are a lot of lovable characters, come to think of it. there was just so... much. i'm still not clear about what FOX does to stuff, or how the pipe actually functioned... there was a lot happening in the middle that made for great scenes and images, almost short-stories-within the book that i would hate to not have read, but which muddied the shape of the narrative a little for me. plus i have been drowning in school and stress and mess in my head... there were days when i would go to read it on break and end up sleeping the whole hour on the stoop. sigh, i am so utterly classy. and days where i had to read my computer textbook which means no time for fun reading (fat lot of good it did me, i say) but you know what - the more i am thinking about this and writing through it - the more i am liking isolated elements of it. i think i will give it a four anyway - its not like i am on the nobel panel or anything - i liked this book. there. now i am closer in taste to you, and i can continue my month of dystopian, apocalyptic and other world disaster-reading. 
 sincerely, 
 karen t. brissette 
 oh, and i forgot - to all the people who aren't jasmime - the book is fuzzy!! not fuzzy like my cat, but like the "poochie and slomo" book. so even if you dont like mimes and ninjas and aftermath of technologically advanced weaponry then you can carry it around like a pet. its an example of worst transition to paperback ever because the tp is such a boring cover, comparatively. get your fuzz on!