Get the tissues ready folks! If animals hold a soft spot in your heart, like they do mine, you will definitely need them from the middle grade fantasy book, The Twistrose Key by Tone Almhjell. The book is very very similar to the land of Naria, but I loved the premise behind it.Lin Rosenquist is an eleven year old girl who just moved from her beloved Summerhill to Old Towne, where she has no friends and her favorite pet, Rufus, has died. When Lin is sent a key in a mysterious parcel, she follows it under her rental house and to the world of Slyver, where beloved pets go when they die, adopting humanistic qualities and keeping watch over the children they hold dear. When snow trolls and a mysterious creature only known as the Margrave threaten to destroy the land of Sylver, Lin and Rufus must discover a way to save Sylver before she is trapped there forever.I really enjoyed this book! Like I said, it is very similar to Narnia, but the twist with the beloved pets really tugged at my heart strings. Combined with the fast moving plot and artful story telling, this book is one of my favorites and has definitely put me in the Christmas spirit!Genre: Middle grade FantasyPositives: Fast paced story, interesting world where beloved pets liveNegatives: The story was too reminiscent of Narnia to stand entirely on it's ownRating: 5 out of 5 stars This book starts out really slow for the first half. As in, painfully slow. It is a piece of children's lit with that quality of dreamlike-ness that is charming, but the charm feels stretched thin after 100 pages. Then, the book starts to pick up after the second half, and after putting it off for months I zipped through to the end. The plot doesn't change pace that much, but it becomes darker and more intense, and the second half of the book is a rollercoaster of loyalty, snow, and plot twists. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and found myself tearing up quite a bit at the end,
What do You think about Vindeltorn (2013)?
To me, this book was beautiful and perfect. Everything I want in a children's novel.
—LoriR
Loved it, am so looking forward to reading it to my girls
—Aman
1/3/14Read 40 minutes1/4/14Read 2 hours and 10 minutes
—Tofu5700
The best book! Met Tone last year, that was amazing!
—jasdance
