Oh, I love this book so much. I was hooked from the first page (see below) and it just got better and better until the sheer perfection of the ending. I don’t want to spoil anything for anyone who hasn’t read it yet, so suffice it to say than it is a very unusual, beautiful, funny, and touching portal fantasy. Orcus and The Last Unicorn are the two books on this entire blog that I would implore you to read as soon as possible, regardless of whether you have a child to read them to. And if you do have a child to read them to, you’re all in for a great treat.
A tiny tangential note: I wonder what it would have looked like if Ursula Vernon (aka T. Kingfisher) had done her own illustrations for this book. I love her art work and Lauren Henderson’s illustrations of the main character come across as very young and delicate to me in a way that doesn’t quite jibe with my vision of her. But reasonable minds can differ and it isn’t a flaw in the glorious book.
Author: T. Kingfisher
Illustrator: Lauren Henderson
