You know the feeling when you find a book that transports you to your childhood and warms your heart? I do not think it is very easy to find, but this book, along with Anne of Green Gables, does just that, and I must say I am impressed.
I cannot quote them from memory, but the occasional humorous bits made me laugh, and I do not laugh that much.
There is also the way the author weaves her story with lovely adventures and prose which sometimes reminded me of that in books outside the target audience, which I find a bit surprising.
The literature I grew up with did not have prose that remarkable, and although the media I consumed was not that bad, I know that children are often condescended to and given ridiculous plots and horrendous prose, which has been a problem even before Tolkien and Lewis started writing their famous series. I could feel the atmosphere and imagine everything the way the author intended it to without it feeling forced. Reading a bit of it in a lit garden at the night also helped.
I did not think much about the characters at the first, but as I continued reading, their quirks, even those that seemed a bit annoying at first, became endearing and made them seem like real people. Even the minor characters had a vivid personality that radiated through the pages, which I do not find in that many books, even those written for adults.
I was also impressed by the magic system. A lot of fantasy writers have a problem with making the magic feel, you know, magical (I am a fantasy writer, so I would know), but this author has crafted one of my favourite magic systems. It connects to the author's meticulous sense of writing prose and plotting, creating a mystery that, at the conclusion, is solved with an unexpected answer, although not one that ruins the rest of the story in any way. It stood out from the pages and enhanced the atmosphere, improving my reading experience and gathering even more of my attention.
About the use of magic in this book, I must also say that I like how it influences the lives of our main characters. The discussion of the ways in which it is horrible and those in which it is not is deeper than I could have expected from what I have read in this target audience and genre.
When it comes to the mysteries, they were my favourite aspect of this book ever since they were introduced thanks to the beauty of the prose, plotting and the magic system around which they are framed, providing enough clues to tantalize the reader, but not so much as to make them all too obvious, nor so little as to seem pretentious and pseudointellectual, and the plot twists made me think: "How come did I not guess this? The clues were there all along!" but at least they were subtle, so I can't feel too bad about it.
Not one of my favourites only because I have read even better books, but one I will remember fondly for a long time.
In conclusion, I believe that this author deserves more recognition than J. K. Rowling, and I would recommend all of you to read this if you can find a copy. I'm sure you won't be too disappointed.
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