Helpful Score: 1
I got a copy of this book to review through the Amazon Vine program. This was a good novella about a home for kids/teens after they leave their fairy tales.
Eleanor West runs a home for wayward children. However, it's not for your every day wayward child. What happens to the children who fall down rabbit holes or into old wells or wander through mysterious doorways when they finally return home and their parents don't believe their stories? Wow are these children supposed to adjust back to the "real" world. This is what Eleanor tries to help with since she herself wandered into one of the Nonsense worlds more than once.
Nancy has just returned from a world ruled by the Lord of the Underworld; a world where stillness and silence are desired over everything else. Her parents are concerned because Nancy is not adjusting well and bring her to Eleanor's Home. However, upon Nancy's arrival things take a turn to the dark side and people start dying. It is up to Nancy and her newfound friends to unravel this mystery and prove that Nancy isn't the problem.
I really enjoyed all the quirky characters and the beginning of the book. This is a very creative concept and one that is fun to read about. The second half of the book is more of a mystery, as teens in the home are found murdered and the characters have to figure out who the criminal is. I thought the second half of the book was a bit too much; it was like the murder mystery was kind of crammed in there and it felt forced and rushed.
The story was well written and easy to read. It also has a very fairytale like feel to it.
Overall this was a well done novella with a creative concept and some interesting quirky characters. The first half of the novella is magnificent, the second half felt a bit clumsy and rushed to me. I would recommend to those who are interesting in fairy tale like stories in modern day settings.
Eleanor West runs a home for wayward children. However, it's not for your every day wayward child. What happens to the children who fall down rabbit holes or into old wells or wander through mysterious doorways when they finally return home and their parents don't believe their stories? Wow are these children supposed to adjust back to the "real" world. This is what Eleanor tries to help with since she herself wandered into one of the Nonsense worlds more than once.
Nancy has just returned from a world ruled by the Lord of the Underworld; a world where stillness and silence are desired over everything else. Her parents are concerned because Nancy is not adjusting well and bring her to Eleanor's Home. However, upon Nancy's arrival things take a turn to the dark side and people start dying. It is up to Nancy and her newfound friends to unravel this mystery and prove that Nancy isn't the problem.
I really enjoyed all the quirky characters and the beginning of the book. This is a very creative concept and one that is fun to read about. The second half of the book is more of a mystery, as teens in the home are found murdered and the characters have to figure out who the criminal is. I thought the second half of the book was a bit too much; it was like the murder mystery was kind of crammed in there and it felt forced and rushed.
The story was well written and easy to read. It also has a very fairytale like feel to it.
Overall this was a well done novella with a creative concept and some interesting quirky characters. The first half of the novella is magnificent, the second half felt a bit clumsy and rushed to me. I would recommend to those who are interesting in fairy tale like stories in modern day settings.
DNF. This was just appalling. First off, I did not pick up this book on my own to read. It was one of those blind date books that Barnes and Noble puts on which just a blurb like if you like Narnia you'll like this book. HAHAHA. NO. The only thing close to Narnia in this book is that they have "different worlds" and go through doors to get to them. Other than that..NOPE. I was shocked at this book dealing with children/young teenagers and 46 pages in, we go into explicit details about sex. That made me SUPER uncomfortable. It's one thing to read Fifty Shades and have that talk with consenting adults, it's another when it involves underage children. That just screamed wrong to me and I had to put the book down and walk away. The book was kinda scatter brained in those 46 pages, and it just had a weird rhythm to it. I originally thought this book held so much promise as the cover and the blurb were interesting, but then once you got into it, it was vastly different. It was like thinking you're getting an actual horse and instead you end up with some vintage chewed up My Little Pony doll.
As fantasy goes, this one is pretty far out there. Quirky characters, doorways to strange worlds and a murder mystery. This has the potential for going some interesting directions, but alone, this one doesn't quite get there.
I am not sure how to write a review on this book. It was weird and nothing was ever really explained. I guess it was a murder mystery, maybe a graphic YA, maybe a fantasy or sci-fi. I finished the book, it was quite short, and I still have no clue how to classify it. There was huge holes in everything, but I think maybe they were intentional. I just don't know. All I can say is that it was a very odd book, not bad, not good, just odd.
