I received a copy from WaterBrook through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
When Eva Joyce travels to England with her mom, she’s excited to meet the grandmother she’s never once heard from. The only problem is that her grandma is sweet with a scary side, and Eva’s been instructed to contain her curiosity while visiting. Magic and fairy tales are not accepted by her grandmother, and the more Eva explores the property, the more she discovers there’s a huge mystery rooted in the fairy tales that are very much a reality.
I thought this seemed like a fun book, so I was excited to check it out! We follow Eva, an extremely curious teenager who is fascinated with all things fantasy and mysterious. She’s grown up moving from one place to another all based on where her father has found work, and while her parents don’t mind her curious nature much, it’s not welcome at her grandmother’s home. For some reason, she’s not allowed to bring up her dad, magic, fairy tales, and strangely enough, trains. It turns out it’s all connected to a terrible tragedy where two family members and a family friend lost their lives, which turned her grandmother into the woman she is in the present.
I think this book was enjoyable at times, but it’s a book that would be more enjoyable for its target audience than it is for adults. It has everything from mystery, magic, and a tragedy that destroyed a family. It was fun seeing Eva discover that the fairy tales she grew up with were very much a reality, and that her dad’s lifetime work is connected to her family in ways she never could’ve imagined. However, the mystery was frustrating. It was clear from the start, but the way the characters danced around it and kept telling Eva it wasn’t their story was just really irritating. I think I would’ve found it more mysterious and fun if I was reading this back when I was in middle school, so it’s definitely great for its target audience.
The characters were both complex and interesting even if Eva seemed to think she knew more than she did. I think Eva was just a lonely kid excited to find out that her favorite fairy tales were real. I also understand how much she hoped to get her grandmother’s approval, especially since she never really knew any family outside of her parents. It was nice to see her make a friend and even keep that friendship going after the huge fight they have, especially since it didn’t seem like she really had friends back at home.
While the book was a fun read, it was also frustrating at times, and I think younger readers will likely get drawn into the story much more than I did and not notice when things seem to stall. I do think it’s interesting enough that I may check out the second book when it eventually comes out. Now that the tedious nature of the mystery is out of the way, it’ll be interesting to see how the story progresses.
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