Lucy Hope

I liked the idea of this book, but nearly all of the characters bothered me.

Wren is Not Like Other Girls. She doesn’t like embroidery or frilly dresses so the men of the era want her to be quiet and obedient. She takes after her mom, who is of course dead. She has an annoying brother, who is of course their father’s favourite.
Why is it always ‘the main character is special because she is adventurous’ and never ‘the time period was horrible to girls in general’?

I wouldn’t say there’s anything truly wrong with this book, but I’ve felt like I’ve read Wren’s character multiple times before. (in other middle grade books with a plot I liked better)… (mehr)

Set on the island of Anglesey in Wales, in 1870, Wren is longing to escape. Her father wishes to send her to a strict boarding school, her little brother is horrible and her aunt is erratic and Wren is never quite sure whether she is on her side or her father's. Wren's mother died in a flying accident from an early aircraft she and Wren's aunt invented and tested together.

It's a good premise for a story but then it gets a bit bonkers... there is a problem with their house (mansion) and the story takes a fantastical turn.

There are parts of this story I really loved and other things about it I found less engaging - I don't want to say more as it's hard to do without spoiling the plot.

I enjoyed this overall but within a couple of days of finishing it had forgotten most of the story; not memorable.… (mehr)

Cassie Engel lives with her parents in a peculiar house on the top of a rock, at the edge of the Bratvian Forest. Her mother Gabriele spends her days up in her tower music room, singing to the heavens in practice for her next role at the opera. Cassie’s father who has never been the same since the war spends his days doing shoddy taxidermy, and his nights deep in a bottle of schnapps.
When a strange angelic creature is blown in Cassie’s window during a storm, suddenly everything is about to change. The only person she can trust is her best friend Raphael, but even he seems to be hiding something. Will she be able to figure out what’s going on before it’s too late?

When I found out this book was a supernatural, gothic tale set on the edge of a German forest, I snatched it up immediately. I was excited by the odd idea of a cherub being blown in your window by a storm, and was intrigued about where this story was going to go - and anyone who knows me knows that I am a sucker for anything even vaguely Gothic.

One thing I would have really benefited from realising before diving into this book is that it’s actually a kid’s book, aimed at ages 9+, where I had somehow gotten the impression that it was aimed at young adults. I had the distinct feeling through the first half of playing make-believe as a kid. The storytelling was so simple and straightforward, dot-to-dot-to-dot. The story is absurd and strange, but it’s so plainly told, It felt like a story my 5 year old niece might tell me – “an angel flew in my window, so I sent a message to my best friend on a secret code machine, and we went to the library to find out how to take care of it. We immediately found a book about angels (of course) but there were scary pictures of big storm-birds so we stopped looking. Also there were a lot of stuffed owls.”

This is truly a very strange book, which is not necessarily a bad thing. It felt like the Addams family (although the Addams family is somehow far more functional) meets a steampunk fairytale. I think it would make a fun cartoon. The writing style was not my absolute favourite, it was rather simplistic and had a vibe I didn’t quite get on with. However I really rate the imagination involved, and the wild plot points that came out of nowhere. It’s been a while since I read something so peculiar, so this book gets kudos for that.
I would recommend this book for imaginative kids who love stories like the Series of Unfortunate Events, Artemis Fowl and fairytales. I am not sure if I would recommend this to a nine year old, I may say it was more suitable for 11 or 12 years and up. There are frequent references to alcohol abuse, as well as some fantasy violence which involves blood, and there is a featured disfunctional marriage.… (mehr)