Sixteen-year-old Shaleigh longs to escape the burden of caring for her ailing father. His delusions have her seeking respite in her photography of old abandon buildings. When she is kidnapped by a creature on a flying bicycle it is not the kind of escape she had longed for. She is taken off to a world where Madam Cloom rules with terrifying magic. ( )

DNF at 12%

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. My thoughts and opinions are my own. Any quotes I use are from an unpublished copy and may not reflect the finished product.

Short version: I couldn't connect with the characters or the story.

The blurb promised minotaurs, faeries, and reincarnation, but I didn't get that far. I stopped reading before the kidnapping occurred, because I didn't want to force myself to read something I wasn't enjoying. The dialogue didn't feel natural, and I had a hard time believing that's how people would interact with each other.

And then there's all the stuff with her dad... Someone, likely and adult, should have stepped in and intervened on Shaleigh's behalf. The man believed his wife was alive and coming home, and even pretended like she'd never left when interacting with his peers. He refused to go to therapy or take medication, and would often sit in the dark and cry for hours or even days. His condition was known, yet no one did or said anything to help him or his daughter. Shaleigh knew how bad things would get, but she didn't push the issue either.

Even though I only read a small portion of this book, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that I think something magical and unexplainable happened to one or both of her parents, and now she's dealing with the aftermath. However, no one knows magic is a possibility, so someone should have done more to help Shaleigh and her father.


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