Holly is a young girl who is a dreamer. We can all relate to that on some level. Those of us obsessed with books, especially in the realm of fantasy, have a bit of the dreamer inside of us, right? We read to travel to distant faraway places that could never really exist in the world in which we live. Or could they?

This story takes us on an adventure like few others. A young girl, and inadvertently her brother and a friend, travel through a tree in the forest and end up in a place that is strange and familiar all at the same time. And what of the mysterious key and how she came to possess it? How did Mr. Galloway know that she would be the best one to wield it's magic?

The world building in this story is well thought out, and the scenarios are exciting and interesting enough to keep the reader interested. But at the same time, there are a lot of unanswered questions that are raised in the story itself. How did Mr. Galloway come to choose to give Holly the key? How exactly did it come to pass that all of the Exiles and the like knew that Holly really was of the world that they knew and could do the things they wanted her to do? And what happens after the story? Will there be more in the story from this author? Will our questions ever be answered?

Usually this would be the point in the review where I would comment on the mechanical portion of the writing, but as I received an eARC of the book, I try to stay away from commenting on the editing and the like as it was not a finished copy and may not have been edited yet. The writer does show promise, though, and I look forward to more of the same in the future. ( )

Holly is a young girl who is a dreamer. We can all relate to that on some level. Those of us obsessed with books, especially in the realm of fantasy, have a bit of the dreamer inside of us, right? We read to travel to distant faraway places that could never really exist in the world in which we live. Or could they?

This story takes us on an adventure like few others. A young girl, and inadvertently her brother and a friend, travel through a tree in the forest and end up in a place that is strange and familiar all at the same time. And what of the mysterious key and how she came to possess it? How did Mr. Galloway know that she would be the best one to wield it's magic?

The world building in this story is well thought out, and the scenarios are exciting and interesting enough to keep the reader interested. But at the same time, there are a lot of unanswered questions that are raised in the story itself. How did Mr. Galloway come to choose to give Holly the key? How exactly did it come to pass that all of the Exiles and the like knew that Holly really was of the world that they knew and could do the things they wanted her to do? And what happens after the story? Will there be more in the story from this author? Will our questions ever be answered?

Usually this would be the point in the review where I would comment on the mechanical portion of the writing, but as I received an eARC of the book, I try to stay away from commenting on the editing and the like as it was not a finished copy and may not have been edited yet. The writer does show promise, though, and I look forward to more of the same in the future. ( )