I really wanted to enjoy this book and fall in love with the characters, as De Lint appears to be just the kind of author I’d enjoy, but all I can say is I did like the book, but nothing more than that really, it certainly had potential but it never seemed to quite catch hold and while the characters were very likable, particularly Cassie and Nina, I couldn’t bring myself to love them like I wanted to.

All in all a decent read, but I do feel it could have been so much better.

Has it put me off De Lint’s work? Not in the least. I’ve got a compendium and one of his longer Newford novels on the way, and there was enough evidence there to suggest that when I hit the right book I will fall in love with his writing and start to eat up anything I can find of his.

Read my full review at:
http://www.bartsbookshelf.co.uk/2008/... ( )

After seeing "Widdershins" being pushed at the book store recently, I decided I wanted to start reading Charles de Lint's Newford Stories from the beginning. I picked this up because I was told that this is the first one in the group. I found out later the Charles de Lint himself recommends that this be the second book to read (http://www.sfsite.com/charlesdelint/f...). I didn't realize before I picked this up that it was so short or that it was geared towards young adults.

I wasn't overly impressed with this novel. The story was ok but not terribly interesting, the characters had potential but I never got to the point where I really cared about them, and the writing was readable but also not terribly interesting. Overall, fairly ho-hum. I give it a little bit of a break because it was, after all, written for a young adult audience. I plan to give another of the Newford stories a try. ( )

A fan of the author, I was excited to find this after a long search. (In fact, I bought a few of his YAs at once.) Taking in consideration its size and 'YA' stamp, reading it provided to be a little disappointing. I'm keeping the book. I probably won't read it again. It's what I call a shelf sitter. (Unless, referring to Jasper Fforde's 'Thursday Next' series, you have a Cheshire cat on your shelf - I so want one of those!) After reading "The Dreaming Place," I found "The Riddle of the Wren" to be a better choice. ( )