Too weird and disjointed. Listened to the audiobook and the narration was too spastic.
A wonderful and exciting adventure awaits any reader. This book though at times seems dry and long, it gets better as you read further.
I like how simple it can be, and the imagery used in this novel does send you off to another place.
If world hoping was possible - by way of magic cupboards, or a wardrobe, the idea is always exhilarating. Who wouldn't want to go on grand adventures and solve puzzling mysteries of abandoned and ruined dance halls and so forth? Meeting someone who is not part of the earth and has never even heard of it, is always different and always exciting.
I love Blake in this story. He is a simple white cat and has no meaning to the heart of the story, but he comes through and saves the characters at one point. Most of the time, he is just there, silently watching and just doing what cats do. He has no voice and yet he is a character.
The book would be missing something if not for Blake.
Frank Willis was an oddball right from the start. I wondered if he had just been spending too much time chasing tumbleweeds in the hot sun, or if he had fallen off the ladder too many times. The man is wise, but he goes about everything in the weirdest ways. He is also proud and that can tear down any dignity he might have been trying to hide.
At times, the guy just really bugged me and I found it incredible that he "knew so much" but as you read, things start to kind of make sense.
When something becomes very clear about Frank, we can understand why he is so weird, but you have to read the sequel to further your understanding of everything that goes on in the book.
The letters that Henry was receiving boggled me. What the heck do they mean and what is up with them. All the numbers and the wordy descriptions, it was all too much.
Anastassia's demeanor after the climax was shocking and kind of gross. That a small child could think like that and be so set about it, it was unsettling but then, she is farm folk.
The climax of the book was very quick, it lasted only a few pages and was over. It was kind of pathetic and I wondered if more would happen. I was disappointed but at the same time grateful everything turns out okay.
There wasn't much explanation, but it can be assumed near the end.
The very end of the book leaves us wondering, and it is very clear that the story is not yet finished, but it simply needs to be printed as a whole new book.
The epilogue is puzzling also, and all I can say to that is...read the sequel.
All in all, I still love this book and enjoy reading it. The characters are raw and real, they have personality and they have feelings. I feel like I am living among them when I read their story, and live the adventures as they do. I know that when this series ends, I will be sad. The characters will end and cease to continue, almost like they died, but I can always revisit and start the adventures over.
The places and worlds far away are so vivid and they smell great! I can really get a sense of their presence in my own room. The scent of falling rain, the feeling of a breeze. The icy chill of the color dark... ooh, good.
Well written and well described imagery. If that doesn't grab you, it might just be the hand from Endor!
The story here is interesting, but the characters are so consistently annoying that it really detracted from my enjoyment.
