Parents' Guide to

Inkspell: Inkheart Trilogy, Book 2

By Matt Berman, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 11+

Overlong but often exciting sequel, darker than first book.

Book Cornelia Funke Fantasy 2005
Inkspell: Inkheart Trilogy, Book 2 Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this book.

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age 13+

Based on 5 parent reviews

JeanHe
JeanHe Parent of 9 and 14-year-old
March 11, 2010
age 13+

Inkspell - - skip it!

Inkspell had several story lines going at one time - - much like a soap opera - - which was very hard to keep up with for our 9 year old son. It took a very long time for my son to get committed to it mentally and it moved very slow for the first 200 pages. There were significant episodes of swearing that didn't add anything to the book and it spoke often of a married man sleeping with a 13 year old. It was a huge disappointment for us after reading Inkheart and watching the movie. Very poor sequal.

This title has:

Too much violence
Too much sex
Too much swearing
1 person found this helpful.
Cameron L.
Cameron L. Adult
May 5, 2021
age 14+

Not for Elementary students

Although the first book in the series was well written and great for experienced upper elementary readers, this second book unfortunately has swear words in it. Therefor, I think his book would be better for upper middle school students who have had a chance to talk about author styles, and the use of swear words in books. If you're not wanting your children to read any swear words, then I would steer clear of this book :)
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What's the Story?

Meggie shares with her father the perilous ability to read things and even characters out of books. In this sequel to Inkheart, Meggie discovers that she can also read people into books. After Dustfinger is sent back into Inkheart by Orpheus, another person with this ability, Meggie and Farid soon follow him, and Resa and Mo are sent by Orpheus, along with Mortola and Basta, the surviving villains from the first book. Mo is seriously wounded by Mortola, and Meggie finds Fenoglio, the author of the story, now living inside it. He agrees to try to help Mo by writing new sections of the book, but the story seems to be evolving in ways that he can't control. As kingdoms go to war and multiple villains team up for revenge and conquest, Meggie tries to rescue her parents while falling in love with Farid.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (5 ):
Kids say (18 ):

Fantasy writer Cornelia Funke takes a page from J.K. Rowling's book, but she missed the most important lessons. Pacing is essential, and books don't get long by larding them up with lots of unnecessary description and pointless to-ing and fro-ing; characters should age gradually; there has to be some lightness in the dark, some humor, some occasional lifting of the miasma of misery; if you have lots of characters, you have to sharply delineate them or it's just confusing; and if you're going to kill off major characters, you have to involve readers emotionally with them first if you want them to care.

This isn't to say that Inkspell lacks excitement -- there's plenty to be had, scattered among the long, drawn-out scenes and descriptions. Fans of the first book will doubtless love this one as well: They have presumably learned to put up with the pacing and skip over the paragraphs that are unnecessary to the story. And the author has an intriguing premise and no shortage of imagination. But this could have been done so much better. Just ask J.K.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about how this sequel compares to the first book. Is the story as exciting as in the first book? What would you change, if anything? Are you going to read the third book, Inkdeath?

  • This book is fantasy but does feature some intense violence and threats. Is it easier to read about dark and disturbing things if it's in a work of fantasy? Does it make any difference to you?

Book Details

  • Author: Cornelia Funke
  • Genre: Fantasy
  • Book type: Fiction
  • Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
  • Publication date: October 9, 2005
  • Publisher's recommended age(s): 10 - 14
  • Number of pages: 635
  • Last updated: July 12, 2017

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