I really loved this book way more than I expected. I grew up on Grimm’s and other dark fairy tales. There wasn’t really many happy endings but there were always lessons to learn and things to take away (other than nightmares, of course)
This book reached into my brain and scratched a very specific itch that craves those dark fairy tales and stories from my childhood. Being afraid under the covers but wanting more of those tales.
David has a strange condition that causes him to hear books talking. They whisper amongst themselves or yell about their content – this description was such a beautiful concept. I joke often that my books call to me, and I don’t hear an audible voice but I do feel drawn to my books in a supernatural way at times.
The land that David stumbles into is created by the imaginations of those who came before him. Their fears are transformed into real living and breathing beings. The stories they have been told and read created the landscape and the characters that inhabit the land. It was such interesting world building.
If you loved Pan’s Labyrinth, Alice in Wonderland, The Wizard of Oz, or stories of those types you will fall in love with this book. I knocked off a star just because there are some pretty violent scenes with gore and haunting images, as well as some unresolved homophobic commentary.
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