Helpful Score: 3
Not sure how to classify this book, I guess dark fantasy/fairy tale would suit it best. While the protagonist is a 12-year-old boy, the book itself is a bit gruesome to be considered children's fiction. Perhaps for mature YA it would be okay. There are quite a few gory, bloody scenes and a lot of unhappy endings to the stories within stories--bit like Hans Christian Andersen meets Quentin Tarantino.
David, a young boy who lives in London during WWII, loved his mother very much and watched her die a slow and painful death from what sounds like cancer. When his father remarries a short time later and they relocate to his new wife's home, a large rambling house on the edge of the city, David seeks solace in his second love--books. His small bedroom on the top floor of the house is full of books; some are David's and some old, leather-bound volumes that once belonged to an ancestor of his stepmother. Soon David becomes lost in his world of books and even hears the books whispering to him, has blackouts where he cannot remember being gone. Once medical reasons are ruled out, David's father has him see a psychiatrist and things begin falling apart from there. Very intriguing tale of adventure, but also of life, love and loss. Although the ending to me was a bit of a sappy cop-out, when looked at from another perspective, I guess it works. The story itself though makes it totally worth it.
David, a young boy who lives in London during WWII, loved his mother very much and watched her die a slow and painful death from what sounds like cancer. When his father remarries a short time later and they relocate to his new wife's home, a large rambling house on the edge of the city, David seeks solace in his second love--books. His small bedroom on the top floor of the house is full of books; some are David's and some old, leather-bound volumes that once belonged to an ancestor of his stepmother. Soon David becomes lost in his world of books and even hears the books whispering to him, has blackouts where he cannot remember being gone. Once medical reasons are ruled out, David's father has him see a psychiatrist and things begin falling apart from there. Very intriguing tale of adventure, but also of life, love and loss. Although the ending to me was a bit of a sappy cop-out, when looked at from another perspective, I guess it works. The story itself though makes it totally worth it.
