Early on in this novel, I didn't want to like it; it seemed predictable and done before in the 10 - teen novel market. Charlie has lost her best friend, drowned in a mill pool - or has she? She believes he has been taken to another place, outside this world. It's one of those earnest books that must make some kind of message for the intended audience, about how it is possible to cope with problems that might affect them...in this case, bereavement, evidently. To me they tend to feel like being hit over the head by a brick, but then, I'm not not 10 - teenaged anymore...

However, the lattermost quarter rescues the book by being genuinely tense and exciting, even making me question what the outcome would really be. There are better books by Stroud, but worse also. ( )

Not nearly as complex as Stroud's Bartimaeus Trilogy, this is essentially a modernized folk tale, with a fantasy base and a certain amount of young adult-level horror to spice it up. I found it effective, though the plot was predictable. However, this is an understandable aspect of folk tales (and I'm not a young adult reader). Stroud gives us a nicely obvious but unremarked-upon contrast between the protagonist's cheerless industrial town and the alluring natural (and supernatural) world to which her quest takes her.

Invite young adults to read this now, then move on to Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell and The Stolen Child when they are ready for more sophisticated versions. ( )

This is a beautiful but painful read, dealing with issues of grief and guilt and friendship in a sensitive book laden with its own special magic. Its a book to leave you thinking at the end too, but a very good read ( )