This was a rather bizarre novel - not quite sure what I was expecting, but not quite this! I liked the philosophy/moral behind it - the danger of trying to get kids to all conform to some norm. The Cavendish Home is a horrible place where weird kids are magicked away to be made normal. From the s...
A story with a stubborn, clever, and mildly disagreeable heroine, this book went to weird and kind of dark places for a children's book. And I LOVED IT! Victoria is a clever child who has zero tolerance for nonsense and competitively seeks to be the best in everything. Then one day, kids in her ...
I would have given this a 3.5 rating.I really wanted to like this book, and I did enjoy it up until the point where Victoria became a member of the Cavendish Home. I'm not sure what happened at that point to make me lose interest, except that it went from mysterious and spooky to kind of macabre....
Curling staircases gleamed with polished wood and rich red carpet.And there were people—everywhere. They looked fuzzy, like we were in the middle of fog. Their voices echoed from faraway. They wore furs and silks, long gowns and sharp black jackets. Their boots shone; their coats fluttered behind...
“Rinka,” he said, his face sagging with relief. He sounded as though he hadn’t slept in ages. “Rinka, you’re all right. I’m here.” He kissed her wrists, her palms, her fingers, the soft skin beneath her eyes, her lips. And Rinka let him—until she registered the presence of...
The trees around her were completely bare. She lay on a nest of brittle, gray leaves. Everything she touched crumbled to ash. She drew her cloak about her and shivered. Someone, somewhere was watching her. “Hello?” she called out into the gloom. “Your friends are not here,” came a low voice. Ther...
“No, no,” he muttered, “not that. Not a train.” Ignoring him, Clara tucked her dagger back into its sheath and squinted to the east—at least, if that was where the sun rose in this place. The railroad tracks were not far from them; if they hurried, they could intercept the train, which would sure...
A MONSTER NAMED FOX The first thing Quicksilver noticed about being a witch was that it would have been much easier without a monster getting in the way. Or perhaps simply with a monster who wasn’t so completely impossible. Anastazia had taken them to a clearing some distance from town. It butted...