SUMMARY:
Twelve year old Piper Bailey wouldn’t trade her friends for any amount of money ― unfortunately, when her dad inherits a fortune, she doesn’t have a choice.
She’s happy with her little house in Syracuse and hand-me-down clothes twenty years out of style. The unexpected windfall is a blessing for her family, but it comes with a giant house hours away in the woods. Heartbroken at being so far from her tiny social circle, she tries to talk her parents into staying home, but they drag her off to the forest anyway.
Piper finds an unexpected friend in a boy who lives in the next house, and the two decide to explore grandpa’s giant mansion. It doesn’t take long for creepy things to start happening. Convinced there’s a malevolent ghost trying to hurt them, she asks her parents for help, but Mom goes from believing Piper is acting out over the unwanted move to being legit crazy.
A near-fatal attack from the spirit strands the kids in a hidden underground complex packed with supposedly mythical beasts. Thinking the strange zoo cruel, Piper is determined to free the creatures, but not all the captives are friendly.
Some are downright evil.
She’s happy with her little house in Syracuse and hand-me-down clothes twenty years out of style. The unexpected windfall is a blessing for her family, but it comes with a giant house hours away in the woods. Heartbroken at being so far from her tiny social circle, she tries to talk her parents into staying home, but they drag her off to the forest anyway.
Piper finds an unexpected friend in a boy who lives in the next house, and the two decide to explore grandpa’s giant mansion. It doesn’t take long for creepy things to start happening. Convinced there’s a malevolent ghost trying to hurt them, she asks her parents for help, but Mom goes from believing Piper is acting out over the unwanted move to being legit crazy.
A near-fatal attack from the spirit strands the kids in a hidden underground complex packed with supposedly mythical beasts. Thinking the strange zoo cruel, Piper is determined to free the creatures, but not all the captives are friendly.
Some are downright evil.
REVIEW:
Matthew Cox is one of those rare authors who can write to a middle grade audience without sounding either condescending or incredibly juvenile. And he has done an amazing job with this tale!
Piper is an awesome 12-year-old, although she is a little too good to be believed. And the life of poverty described for her family before their windfall was a bit much. (I honestly don't know anyone in this day and age who hasn't had takeout pizza in three years, for example.)
Tristan is a little bit of an odd character, and I was originally afraid, like Piper, that he was perhaps an elf or a ghost or perhaps something similar conjured by the house. That he does turn out to be a real person — not to mention such a good friend — is a definite plus.
The kids experience a great deal of action and adventure in the short time that transpires over the course of the book. But it starts out real slow and is actually kind of boring at the beginning. in fact, it isn't until about a third of the way in that we even get to see the menagerie. There was a lot of backstory and world-building to do, but I think the pace could have been picked up a bit at the start. Likewise, there were some things that seemed to just be dropped or ignored, that it would have been nice to have a bit more resolution on.
Overall though, this was a delightful book! It was definitely an original story with lots of twists and turns and surprises. The abundance of fantastical wildlife encountered by the young duo was incredible. Getting to know more about many of them, both from their menagerie descriptions, as well as actual interaction, was very informative and entertaining. The ending was nothing like I had imagined it would be, but was still a very happy one. This is definitely a book that I recommend, especially for fans of original middle-grade fantasy!
I received a free eBook copy of this title from the author,
and have willingly provided an honest review.
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