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3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
A beautifully written children's book. I was drawn into this enchanted, magical story from the first page and could not put the book down until I had finished it. Although written for children, there is plenty for adults to think about too, such as the concept of time. Still thinking about it...
Beautiful but a bit too much description early on. The end really makes it!
It's like Doctor Who meets Peter Pan meets the works of E. Nesbit.
I never anticipated to be so emotionally provoked when starting this book — or in any kind of children’s literature, to be honest, but Pearce writes in a style that I adore and the themes in the novel truly act as underlying questions at any stage of your life, rather than just childhood.
On reading you can tell why the novel has been SO successful and won the awards it has. I’m still in a state of shock, even if I was fully aware of the ending before reading it. Just... wonderful.
On reading you can tell why the novel has been SO successful and won the awards it has. I’m still in a state of shock, even if I was fully aware of the ending before reading it. Just... wonderful.
For some reason I never read this as a child, and after reading Lucy Mangan’s Bookworm, I thought I better had. Her book explores childhood reading and how we glean different things from children’s books at different points in our lives. I loved the midnight garden, Hatty climbing trees and making secret passages. It’s everything I would have wanted in a boring summer, but all the more for it being mysterious and slightly magical.
It was sweet and short. I wanted to start my year with something just like that! 💕
emotional
mysterious
sad
I hadn't heard about this story until this year, perhaps from BookTuber Miranda Mills. I listed to this delightful little gem through a full cast BBC audiobook production. I've never listed to a full cast production before and I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly I was pulled into the story. I listened with anticipation to find out what would happen next. I haven't read that many children's stories set in England in this time period (presumably directly post WWII?) but I have loved the children's stories I have read focusing around these years, [b:Goodnight Mr Tom Book & Tape|881501|Goodnight Mr Tom Book & Tape|Michelle Magorian|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-a91bf249278a81aabab721ef782c4a74.png|870671] and[b:The War That Saved My Life|20912424|The War That Saved My Life (The War That Saved My Life, #1)|Kimberly Brubaker Bradley|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1453342842l/20912424._SY75_.jpg|40277782].
I'd recommend this to anyone who enjoys historical fiction that wasn't so historical when it was written.
I'd recommend this to anyone who enjoys historical fiction that wasn't so historical when it was written.
I wish I had read this as a child. It was magical as an adult but it would have hit different when I was younger.