A review by ashleylm
Cart and Cwidder by Diana Wynne Jones

4.0

So close to 5 stars from me (Diana Wynne Jones is a wonderful, wonderful writer), but I had some trouble accepting that the characters would be so chill about the astonishing life events befalling them—the mother, in particular, didn't ring true to me. Sorry, Ms. Jones. Otherwise it's the usual melange of likable viewpoint character, distinctive supporting cast, slightly tricksy plot, the occasional unexpected reveal, and a lot of frustration—I'm reading a collection of her short stories at the same time, and it seems like frustrated exasperation is the main mental state of most of her protagonists, you expect them to walk around going "urgh!" all the time (and then after venting, getting down to business, of course).

(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s). I feel a lot of readers automatically render any book they enjoy 5, I'm a bit more ruthless.