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A review by amyreadsbooks917
Liesl & Po by Lauren Oliver
3.0
This was such a fun middle grade story. Little Liesl has been trapped in her attic room by her evil stepmother almost all her life. After her father dies one day, she meets a ghost named Po, who is neither fully a boy nor a girl, and its pet named Bundle, who is neither fully a cat nor a dog. Liesl discovers that her father's dying wish is to have his ashes scattered under the tree they visited when she was a little girl, so she escapes and sets off to fulfill this wish so he can pass on to the afterlife. The only problem is that the box his ashes were in has been mixed up with a box containing the most powerful magic that can bring people back to life and unbeknownst to Liesl and Po and Bundle, they are now the targets of an evil alchemist and villainous lady.
As dark as some elements of this story sound, it really had "A Series of Unfortunate Events" vibe to it where all of the adults were incompetent and caricatures of evil while the children were level-headed and witty. It made things feel very funny and light-hearted. There was also a bit of "The Graveyard Book" kind of tone where things could be very silly and slapstick one moment then transition into being very sentimental and serious the next. For this reason, I loved the characters and I was rooting for them, but I never felt completely invested in the story. It was still a great story with incredibly original ideas and original characters. I would definitely recommend reading this, especially if you enjoy middle grade fantasy.
As dark as some elements of this story sound, it really had "A Series of Unfortunate Events" vibe to it where all of the adults were incompetent and caricatures of evil while the children were level-headed and witty. It made things feel very funny and light-hearted. There was also a bit of "The Graveyard Book" kind of tone where things could be very silly and slapstick one moment then transition into being very sentimental and serious the next. For this reason, I loved the characters and I was rooting for them, but I never felt completely invested in the story. It was still a great story with incredibly original ideas and original characters. I would definitely recommend reading this, especially if you enjoy middle grade fantasy.