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A review by rach
Nooks & Crannies by Jessica Lawson
4.0
A lovely little mystery. Tabitha is such a delightful, creative, inquisitive child, and it was so painful to see how much she tried to make her horrible parents love her.
The story started out very Wonka-esque, with the seemingly mysterious selection of 6 children, but once the families arrived at the house and met the Countess, that's where the stories diverged. Instead of looking for a child worthy enough to inherit her fortune, the Countess was
If you don't mind stories wrapping themselves up nicely, this story ended perfectly. The horrid, villainous people all get either sent to jail or exiled to other continents. The good, deserving people all ended up with happy families. I'm happiest for Tabitha, of course, because it's her life that changed the most drastically - she suddenly has a brother, a group of friends, and a grandmother who loves her for who she is. And what more can you want out of life?
I would definitely recommend this book, especially to younger readers who like mysteries.
Spoiler
I was totally not surprised and thrilled when it turned out her parents had adopted her. Even though that made her feel completely alone at first, in the end, I think it allowed her to separate herself from them emotionally and finally release the anger and resentment she'd felt towards them all these years.The story started out very Wonka-esque, with the seemingly mysterious selection of 6 children, but once the families arrived at the house and met the Countess, that's where the stories diverged. Instead of looking for a child worthy enough to inherit her fortune, the Countess was
Spoiler
looking for her long-lost grandchild, hoping to establish a relationship with him or her, and to give them everything she couldn't give to her son.Spoiler
Parts of this mystery were pretty easy to guess: it seemed obvious that Tabitha was going to be the grandchild, and it became clear pretty early on that the "Countess" was really Mary and "Mary" was really the Countess. What I didn't guess, though, was the twin twist, both of them! I didn't expect for Hattie to appear, though I'm glad she did, because I couldn't figure out how Tabitha's life would change drastically if her real grandmother was dead. I also didn't expect that the kids were all sets of twins! Obviously Tabitha and Oliver seemed to like each other's company, and at one point they mentioned they had the same color eyes, but I kind of was taking it more down a romantic road - I know, they are only 11, but 11 year olds get crushes, too! Imagine my surprise when they were suddenly revealed to be siblings!If you don't mind stories wrapping themselves up nicely, this story ended perfectly. The horrid, villainous people all get either sent to jail or exiled to other continents. The good, deserving people all ended up with happy families. I'm happiest for Tabitha, of course, because it's her life that changed the most drastically - she suddenly has a brother, a group of friends, and a grandmother who loves her for who she is. And what more can you want out of life?
I would definitely recommend this book, especially to younger readers who like mysteries.