Review by Booklist Review
Twelve-year-old Alice has always been obedient, studious, and polite. So she is not sure what to do when she sees her father being threatened by a fairy when he has always insisted fairies weren't real. Before she can ask, he disappears on a business trip, and Alice is sent to a mysterious uncle living in a labyrinthine estate complete with a forbidden library. Like another Alice, she follows a talking cat into the enchanted space in search of answers. It's a perfect, if traditional, setup, and fans of Harry Potter and Cornelia Funke's Inkheart (2003) will relish that the library houses magical books, which only Readers can use. After entering a book and defeating the creature therein, and thus harnessing its power, Alice becomes her uncle's apprentice. It's a joy to watch the dutiful Alice develop her innate curiosity and become a proactive, resourceful heroine, matching wits with snarky cats, dangerous beasts, and a certain smug boy. This is a charming, adventuresome fantasy from a promising new author.--Hutley, Krista Copyright 2014 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 5-8-Following the disappearance of her father, whom she believes has met with foul play from a fairy named Vespidian, Alice Creighton is living with her mysterious uncle, Geryon. A talking cat leads her into the forbidden library against her uncle's orders. Alice quickly discovers a whole new world of creatures inside the books. To survive, she must harness the power from the creatures and make it her own. After learning she is a Reader, she agrees to become Geryon's apprentice. Throughout her adventures, Alice never loses hope that she'll learn the truth about what happened to her father. Wexler incorporates familiar themes in a fresh, new fantasy world. He delivers imaginative characters and action-packed story lines. Cassandra Morris narrates with perfect timbre and inflection. The transition between character voices is seamless. VERDICT This audiobook is recommended for fans of Harry Potter and Alice in Wonderland.-Alice Davidson, Indianapolis, IN © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Sent to live with a previously unknown "uncle," Geryon, on his estate known as "The Library," newly orphaned Alice breaks the rule against entering the estate's vast book repository when she discovers a clue about her father's death: the thuggish, poisonous-looking fairy she overheard arguing with him just prior to his fatal shipwreck is skulking about, trying to find something hidden in the stacks. Alice's initial investigation, however, reveals no fairy but a feral boy named Isaac, who goads her into reading one of Geryon's private volumes, The Swarm. To her surprise, Alice enters the book and is attacked by the Swarm, and only quick thinking enables her to defeat the creatures and return to the Library. Now that she knows she is a Reader (a magician capable of controlling certain powerful books), Alice seeks to learn more about her father's fate -- but will Geryon use her powers for his own ends? For that matter, will the Library itself? Alice does a credible impersonation of a prim nineteenth-century miss, but her nimble reactions and ability to adapt to unstable situations belie her decorous exterior. By giving the richly textured literary adventures "teeth" and by placing subplots both inside and outside the books, Wexler dexterously avoids the "it's only a story" pitfall that might distance readers from the action, while the wondrous Library will gratify book lovers and fantasy experts alike. Final illustrations unseen. anita l. burkam (c) Copyright 2014. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Being a Reader comes with significant challenges in this fantasy filled with ever-changing library stacks, enchanted books and talking cats. Late one night, 12-year-old Alice Creighton stumbles upon her father in conversation with a threatening fairy. Next thing she knows, her dad is off to Buenos Aires on a steamer ship that mysteriously goes down in a freak storm. Now an orphan, she is sent to live with her uncle Jerry, aka Geryon, who happens to have an unusual and off-limits library that harbors a coveted book and creatures that may explain what really happened to Mr. Creighton. There, she meets the boy Isaac, a Reader, who has the power to enter books and interact with the creatures within them, and discovers that she's a Reader, too. She is also given the opportunity to apprentice herself to Geryon, which she takes in a desperate effort to find her father. Alice proves to be an active and intelligent heroine who adeptly pulls compatriot and rival Isaac out of more than one potentially fatal challenge. Vaguely reminiscent of Harry Potter, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Inkheart all rolled into one, it's good fun, if a tad light on character transformation and sagging a bit in the middle. Working in the grand tradition of children's fantasy, Wexler's off to a promising start. (Fantasy. 10-14)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
