A review by serendipitysbooks
Lanny by Max Porter

emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

I might be late to the works of Max Porter but I went in for a deep dive and came up as a major fan of his imagination, his innovative structures, his fragmentary poetic style and special way with words, plus his ability to capture and portray so much in so few words. I listened and read simultaneously which let me appreciate these visually and aurally.

Next up was Lanny and what a gem of a book. Sweet, innocent Lanny was such a memorable character perfectly designed to tug at my heartstrings. In Dead Papa Toothwort, Porter created such a unique nature-embodying spirit. He felt so real and fully formed that I had to check to see if he was a part of English mythology I somehow didn’t know about. The snippets of overlapping conversations brilliantly revealed so much about the villagers. And when Lanny disappeared those snippets just sounded so realistic, a microcosm of exactly how I would expect a community to react. Porter was a master at evoking so many emotions - fear, desperation, anger, relief. The performance in the village hall towards the end was a bit weird for me but overall I absolutely loved this book.

Content Warnings