This was well plotted, but I didn’t find the characters that likable and struggled with the concept of how truth effects reality. ( )

This book has a terrible synopsis. It doesn't tell you anything about the real meat of the story, and instead prattles on about the themes of the book.

What it's really about: Stuey and Elly Rose are connected. Not only by the same birthday and the fact that Elly Rose claims they're soulmates, but also by the fact that their great-grandfathers went missing together the same night on Stuey's families golf course. Together in their secret place in the woods the golf course has become, Elly Rose disappears. Or, from her point of view, Stuey disappears.
Somehow, the world has split, and Elly Rose and Stuey have ended up in different ones. To re-connect, they need to somehow work together to reveal the festering secrets of their families.

Hautman manages to introduce and explain this concept easily and in a straight-forward manner, rather than becoming bogged down in the specifics. The two worlds march on, minus a child, and life continues. It's easy to feel Stuey's and Elly Rose's confusion, pain, and sorrow, and to root for them to find their way back to each other. ( )

SPOILERS. An atmospheric, supernatural tale linking relationships between the ages (and dimensions). Hard to put down, this book had a visceral and haunting setting of local woods. The author based this book on woods he had adventured in in his own childhood, now very different from development. Similarly, the woods are changed over time and between dimensions in this story. Stuey has a sad past and the book opens with the dramatic death of his grandfather in a storm (making this a mature readers book). As the story unfolds, the truth about his Grandfather's involvement in the woods becomes clear. His great grandfather disappeared, along with his rival, one night, which has long been a mystery. When Elle-Rose, Stuey's quirky, imaginative and honest best friend disappears, the chain of events unlocks the past. Can the past save their future? ( )

This book intrigued me at the start - fairy circles, high concept talk (hello quantum mechanics), but then - it kind of stalled in the middle. It was a quiet book - and it felt like it was more a character study than plot-driven - mostly because the plot was kind of running in place.

By the finish the ends wrapped up neatly, but I was still left scratching my head. The writing itself was lovely. I wish I loved it more. ( )

// Thanks to Candlewick Press and Netgalley for the ARC to review //

“I suppose if we forgot stuff we’ll never know we forgot it, because we won’t remember.”

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a general problem with fantasy books is capturing the attention of readers, but this book did not have that problem. This book is surprisingly deep for a middle grade book. It is complex and intricate with themes deeply woven into the story.

I like how certain middle grades books have the special talent of being so much deeper than they are meant to be.

As this is in the Fantasy genre, it dealt with topics that were more on the supernatural level but I was still able to heavily relate to it in a more philosophical way.


plot:

~ though it had a slow start for me, it picked up fairly quickly. The beginning was already enough to capture my attention. The timeline was spread out enough that it was able to show the development and change with the characters.

stuey and elly are so innocently cute that it makes the whole story seem innocent even though it dealt with sort of serious and heavy topics. The developments were slow but it hit me really hard and I couldn't help tearing up at some parts. And even though the structural flow did not appeal to me as much because it is a middle grade novel, I enjoyed it very much due to the topics that it tackled and how much it just hits you everytime.


“hatred combined with lies and secrets can break the world.”

characters:

~ the characters were written with so much passion that reading their relationships made my heart swell. I felt all the emotions they were feeling on a magnified level. Their connections just felt so real to me.

“Do You know what ghosts are, Stuey? I’ll tell you. They’re secrets haunting the memories of the living. So long as we carry their secrets, they refuse to leave. They wait.” “Wait for what?” “To be forgotten. My father has been gone for sixty years, but” — he tapped the side of his head — “he’s still here. He never left.”

this made me think of my own dad and i must be lying if i said that i didn’t shed a tear. The characters had diversity. Even though the style makes it seem like a very kiddish read, I was glad to have read it because the characters felt alive and they did start growing up towards the end.

Their families were very much present throughout the whole book and I appreciated how their actions played a part in the plot.


“we live in different worlds, different realities.”

themes:

~ it revolved around a lot of themes: ghosts, memories, dreams, friendship, family, growing up but most importantly, realities and what we choose to believe. Is there more than one reality? Are there different worlds? It provided a lot of philosophical ideas to ponder on and it always left me thinking.

what hit me the most was how in the end, Stuey forgot a significant part of his past with Elly, it signified how he has grown up. It showed that we change as we grow older and it made me realize that we won't even remember the things that we forget. But as long as it stays with us, it will stay alive though us.

~ In this story, it isn't important whose side of 'reality' is true and which is not. What is important is that you understand that each of us can have our own versions of realities, and that's okay. . . because we will always choose to believe our own reality.

“the dead live in our memories.”

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FULL REVIEW: to be posted on my blog about a week before September 11 ( )