The Chronicles of Narnia Book Series Review

I really don't remember much from the books, so bear with me.

My mother read these as "read-out-louds" with I and my younger siblings earlier in the year. My mom likes to read books aloud to the younger ones, and I decided to join in because it would add to the number of books that I read a year. Most of the books that the children select are some of the worst books I have ever read, with the best being The Witches by Roald Dahl. We've also read the entire Little House on The Prairie series, The BFG, Where The Red Fern Grows, and Around The World in Eighty Days (A version of which was being retold for children). My mom's not really a good speaker, and I've read aloud sometimes when she doesn't want to.

THE MAGICIAN'S NEPHEW

This was written as a prologue of what's to come. The Amazon synopsis reads as follows:

On a daring quest to save a life, two friends are hurled into another world, where an evil sorceress seeks to enslave them. But then the lion Aslan's song weaves itself into the fabric of a new land, a land that will be known as Narnia. And in Narnia, all things are possible.

Interesting. What I remember of this book was pretty tame, sometimes got a little entertaining, but, all in all, it was pretty *okay.*

 THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE
I remember this one a little clearer, as it was the best in the series. The Amazon synopsis reads as follows:

Four adventurous siblings—Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie—step through a wardrobe door and into the land of Narnia, a land frozen in eternal winter and enslaved by the power of the White Witch. But when almost all hope is lost, the return of the Great Lion, Aslan, signals a great change . . . and a great sacrifice.

It was okay-er than The Magician's Nephew, with a few more entertaining parts than the first. Extremely predictable, as the entire series is a retelling of The Bible, and felt very forced when it came to emotions. A lot of people are all like "OMG I cried at the end lol" but it was actually very cringey at how much C.S. Lewis (who is a great writer in his other works, by the way) was pressing these emotions on you. All in all, you could just read this book in the series and you'd be okay. This book created a very cringey movie with poor acting, an okay music score, and effects that were good at the time, but absurdly fake now.

THE HORSE AND HIS BOY 
Possibly the worst in the series, I don't remember any of it except for the fact that there's a talking horse, although it's never mentioned in the Amazon synopsis:

On a desperate journey, two runaways meet and join forces. Though they are only looking to escape their harsh and narrow lives, they soon find themselves at the center of a terrible battle. It is a battle that will decide their fate and the fate of Narnia itself.

It's trying to make it sound as exciting as possible. It's very drawn-out with very little action or tension at all, and when it does occur, it seemed pretty mild. This was the turning point in the series where basically everything kept getting weirder and weirder and, even if the rest of the series had the "okay" vibe kind of going along in the series, I would've liked it better, but this book was one of the worst, and my family agreed.

PRINCE CASPIAN
A slight improvement from the last one, but don't take that as a sign to read it. I'm not going to include the Amazon synopsis, because the entire book is about the Pevensie kids going back to Narnia and meeting the title character. It was better than The Horse and His Boy, but far from okay.

THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER
This was another weird one. Again, I won't include the Amazon synopsis because literally, the only story is about the Pevensie kids trying to find a bunch of dead guys out at see, there's dragons and swords--typical fantasy stuff. It was worse than Prince Caspian, and it also spawned a terrible CGI filled movie.

THE SILVER CHAIR
Even worse than The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, but not quite as bad as The Horse and His Boy, the story is literally about the kids exploring some sort of caves under the ground. It's really weird, and I hardly remember anything other than the caves.

THE LAST BATTLE
As bad as The Horse and His Boy, this one gets really weird, really fast. There's a talking monkey, and, from what I remember, a donkey. The Amazon synopsis basically just keeps repeating "This is the end of Narnia! The last book in this incredible series!" And doesn't say much about the plot itself.  It's ridiculous, it's boring, and, thank God, it's the end of the series.

ALL IN ALL
It's a bad series. If you wanted to read it, I'd only recommend The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. But, there appears to be people who enjoy these kinds of books, so go right ahead and read it. I personally hated most of the series, but maybe you would. 1/10 would recommend.