Such a great read! My girls and I devoured this book quickly after beginning it. This was the perfect tale to end our school year with. I loved it, even as an adult. It was full of magical, mystical creepiness that really took us on a wild adventure. Thanks so much for the opportunity to read this. We'll definitely be checking out more works by this author.

I was sent an early copy of this book for my independent and honest review.
This is a middle grade book suitable for older middle grade readers. I loved our female protagonist Gwendoline.
She lives in a future world where everything and everybody comes in all shades of Grey. However Gwendoline really doesn't fit in. She has a beautiful imagination and everything is seen in glorious technicolour.I
I really like the characters in this debut novel, especially Gwendoline. She always stays true to who she is and sets a good example to younger readers to always be yourself, don't change just to suit others and be kind.
I enjoyed the writing style too.
As an adult reading this book, I didn't feel as engaged with the plot as I am when reading some middle grade books, even when I am not the target audience.However this does not mean this isn't a good book, I think it would suit older children who like dystopian worlds and adventure. The ending leaves an opening for further adventures so if you like your endings to be neatly tied up, then be aware of this.
A good addition to any middle grade library

I have to admit, I’m becoming more and more enamored with JollyFish Press. It’s gotten to the point that, if I see their name in the publisher field, I don’t even bother reading the description, because I know I’m going to love the book!

And, really, look at that cover !?! What’s not to love?!?!

What I liked: The Marvelous Adventures of Gwendolyn Gray is such a fun book!! Once I picked it up, I couldn’t put it down, and as soon as I put it down, I purchsed copies for my middle-grade readers (& older) because I knew they’d love it too.

This adventure is terrific. Every time I thought it was close to the end & our heros had won another wrench was thrown in and the Mister Men showed up again!

Gwendolyn Gray lives in The City and attends School, which consists of looking into little spheres called Lambents. She doesn't like how they make her feel dull, so she instead draws during class time and continues to let her imagination loose. Her imagination is starting to affect the world around her, and there are two faceless men in bowler hats intent on erasing the changes she had made, as well as Gwendolyn.

This is a middle-grade book that invokes the power of imagination and individuality in the middle of a world bent on enforcing conformity. Because of this, there is bullying from Gwendolyn's classmates, the quiet disappointment of her parents, and the sinister way that the men in the bowler hats follow her. That subtle menace can be frightening, especially for children; my nine-year-old daughter reading this found them to be creepy and thought they would give her nightmares. (They didn't, not to worry!) Gwendolyn is a very likable main character, and stronger emotionally than she thinks she is. The travels she goes through to escape the men in the bowler hats, as well as the journey through different worlds, is quite impressive. There are moments where she was fearful or made difficult decisions, which any child will relate to.

As much as there is an adventure in this story, this is also a story about a twelve-year-old growing up. Gwendolyn has to realize her own limits and take measure of what's important to her, which is difficult for children to do. She has to deal with friendships, budding romance, loss and the searing disappointment and grief that can come with it. All of this is handled very well within the confines of fantasy, which also makes it a great vehicle for conversations about a lot of potentially difficult topics.

In a drab world, it's up to Gwendolyn Alice Gray to bring a splash of color into life. Twelve-year-old Gwendolyn is a spunky girl with wild red hair whose colorful imagination sets her apart from the rest of the citizens in the City. When she discovers she hold a hidden power, the Faceless Gentlemen seek to capture Gwendolyn and give her power to the Collector. Before she knows it, Gwendolyn is living one of the adventures she always dreams about….but will she have a happy ending?

B.A. Williamson is able to paint the pages of the book with humor and adventure much like Michael Ende's "The NeverEnding Story." Looking forward to reading more works by Williamson and Gwendolyn's adventures!

Gwendolyn Gray is a twelve (going on 13) year old red-haired girl in a seemingly Dystopian Gray world and the only citizen who has an imagination and that's her problem. With her colored hair and vivid, colorful imagination, she's labeled as Rebellious and Rioter. And at first, she didn't even know the real danger of her imagination, or the real beauty of it. And as everything in Gwendolyn's Gray world turned clearer to her, she was also thrown into a perilous adventure that includes saving the world and her own made-up world.

First, I love Gwendolyn and her ability to conjure everything that comes in her mind. Second, I love the double meaning of every sentence and of the entire story. It shows how powerful imagination can be and how magical. And by making imagination as some kind of magical ability, it also brings a message to us that any of us can have colorful lives, all we need is our imagination.
I was really surprised to find myself so fascinated while reading this. And the storytelling is amazing. The narrator, which thankfully isn't Gwendolyn as I'm afraid of what she might sow in my mind with her imagination (lol)...anyway, the narrator succeed on taking me into Gwendolyn's world and share her adventures. I particularly loved how it ended. Not only did everything turned alright, but the little surprise (though I actually guessed it beforehand) was a nice treat.

If you love Middle Grade and Children's, this book is for you though I am 25 and terribly enjoyed it. If you're older you can buy this for a kid. Children will like this story best as its very magical and imaginative.

Imagine a city where the sun never breaks through the clouds, where everything is meant to be done with the least amount of fuss. The most terrible thing is the way the schools are run. Teachers are actually only babysitters who sit and supervise the children. The actual teaching is done by stones called Lambents which the students stare into and receive any knowledge they need. And anyone who disturbs the smooth operation of the city and the school is persona non grata, bullied by the other children, scolded and punished by the adults. That child is Gwendolyn.

Try as she might, Gwendolyn cannot rein in her imagination. When she tries to stare into the Lambent like everyone else in class, it gives her headaches and hurts her eyes. Unlike everyone in town, she enjoys reading and even reads old documents from the hall of records - a place no one else even visits. But when she finds a storybook in an empty apartment, Gwendolyn winds up on an adventure that rivals any novel. Rather than gloom and grayness, there is a colorful world, incredible inventions, and larger than life heroes and villains. Can she save this new and exciting place as well as her own home?

For those who are familiar with "The Matrix," the men from the city who pursue Gwendolyn in an attempt to control her imagination and its effects will bear a remarkable resemblance to Agent Smith and his cohorts. But they also mix in with the men in hats from "The Adjustment Bureau" since they wear bowler hats that have peculiar properties.

If you enjoy stories that pit spunky heroines against seemingly overwhelming odds and adults with vast powers, then you should give this book a try. Highly recommended for middle grades and up.

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this book

well what an adventure to be had whilst reading this book...younger readers will love this one but having an open imagination works just as well for everyone who reads this one....

it starts off dark and dismal because that is the world that gwendolyn lives in but shes a rebel and causes all sorts of mischief to happen and along the way the adventures start...

This of the story of Gwendolyn Gray - a twelve-year-old girl with wild, bright red hair and a colourful imagination living in a dull and colourless world. She is creative, determined and extremely odd among her peers. One day, even she finds herself rather odd when colourful things from her imagination start appearing in the otherwise dull city. Then, by complete accident, one of her classmates grow bunny ears, she finds herself at the boundaries of the city being hunted by two mysterious creepy men and she is saved from their clutches by two very odd children - Sparrow and Starling.

Sparrow is a boy around Gwendolyn's age who is kind but idiotic and has a bit of a crush on Gwendolyn. Starling is his older sister who has blue hair and a really standoffish personality. This brother-sister duo are castaways - children who went through a portal to another world and are now world jumping hoping to one day find their way home. They are skilled and savvy enough to survive while constantly on the run and are quite shocked to come across Gwendolyn and her rare abilities.

The story is split into three sections - grey, gold and red - and the names of these sections are symbolic. Grey is the first part where the story starts and takes place mostly in Gwendolyn's dull city. Gold is the second part in which Gwendolyn takes her new friends, Sparrow and Starling, to a world she read about in a book that is full of light and colour. The third and final part of the book is Red, where the adventure and the conflict that has been building throughout the previous two parts reach its peak and blows up. 

The other thing I need to mention are the weird lambents that everyone stares into and receives all the knowledge they need but also seems to drain them of individuality, self-thought and common decency. I can understand why Gwendolyn hated where she lived if that is what she was faced with every day. Also, that is some weird dystopian stuff and the scariest part is that technological developments may already be making creepy stuff like that possible. Public service announcement: Do not go staring into large marbles that light up and somehow transfer information into your brain. 

I feel the storyline works but it is definitely aimed at younger audiences. The character development and the world descriptions were good, but the actual events seemed confusing due to rushed scenes and lack of explanations, though that may just be personal preference. The book and the "figment" Gwendolyn finds were two of the best elements in this book, but I felt they were not focused on enough nor was it really explained why she found it with stuff that had her initials on it. I also think there needed to be more explanation as to who the creepy men hunting Gwendolyn down were, who they worked for and what they truly wanted. It was probably the biggest plot hole that I could not fully work out by the time the book ended. 

I think this was a good children's / middle-grade novel with that "kids can save the world" vibe and quirky characters that my 8-year-old self would have really liked, but it does not quite hit the mark for me.

This book was an adorable children's book! I loved so many aspects of the book, and it's one I'll share with my younger cousins

A mid grade level to young adult dystopian with themes targeted at the repression of the imagination and the spunky girl who resists. Great beginning to mid point, but hits a slow spot around the ¾ mark as the story tries to incorporate a bit too much of every genre. Gwendolyn Gray is a young heroine worth rooting for, and the ending redeems any minor flaws along the way.

Managed to get through this book in a day! It lived up to my cute expectations, I was totally getting Disney vibes from it and it didn't disappoint. Merida from Brave definitely made an appearance in my head, stepping in to play the role of Gwendolyn :p
I loved the magical whimsicalness to it, while also the fantastical elements such as the Lambents and her imagination running away with her. I didn't even cringe at the cronies because it's just the type of cute middle-grade story this was :) Although that ending did break my heart a little. I want to read more!

The story was awesome, and i love how the writer describe Gwendolyn as a wild and clever character. I even forgot that she was just a fiction lol, I love her! But i don't really like the ending.

OH, AND THIS COVER! OH MY, I LOVE THE COLOR, IT JUST CAUGHT MY EYE! I think this novel will be the next new york times bestseller!

Hmmm. It's hard to know where, to begin with, this book. It's marked MG, but many, many parts seemed more YA to me. I wouldn't hand it to a kid under the age of 12. If it were a movie it would be PG13 if that gives you any context. It depends on your kid, I felt a little uncomfortable and edited a scene at the beginning while I read it aloud (a mean girl bra snapping incident) but the rest was fine for my 12yo.

Gwendolyn lives in a gray city (world really) where the buildings are the same and the people are the same. Gwendolyn with her red hair and nonconformist attitude has a difficult time. She rebels but not in an angsty way more in line with Princess Leia.

I think it was a great twist on fantasy and dystopian.

Verdict- Buy

Gwendolyn is a beautiful character with a very large imagination ability.
She takes you through childhood dreams, fears and in my opinion insecurities.
I loved this book! It was beautifully written and I was left captivated by the sheer ability of the author to transport me to the life of Gwendolyn.
A must read!!

Extremely cute book full of adventures of the imagination! Thank you so much for letting me have a free copy for an honest review.

This delightful adventure crosses worlds of imagination with a singularly creative young heroine. At times the settings reminded me of A Wrinkle in Time, Kidnapped, Peter Pan, and The Never-Ending Story, to name a few. Humor tempers the seriously creepy villains, and the dramatic story moves right along with more than its share of twists and turns. Gwendolyn Gray is not only a resourceful and sympathetic heroine, but someone I would have loved to play with as a child. My only reservation about the book concerns the audience, since Gwendolyn is adolescent, but the length of the book and the complexity of the world place it more in the YA/teen niche. Regardless, I look forward to more imagination-fueled adventures.

SUMMARY

Gwendolyn Gray lives in The City where there are no stories. There are books that no one reads. But imagination is highly discouraged. The only problem is that Gwendolyn is highly imaginative. So much so that her peers (and even adults) look down on her in disdain–especially at her bright, curly red hair. For all intents and purposes, The City is black and white. Cityzens have black hair or platinum blonde hair. But Gwendolyn is special.

One day, after an incident in school, Gwendolyn finds herself at The City’s limits. She has never even imagined the possibility of there being an outside to The City. But as she is being attacked by two Faceless Gentlemen in bowler hats, she is rescued by two mysterious travelers.

Thus begins her adventures with her two new companions. Now Gwendolyn needs to figure out a way to stop the mysterious men, who seem in part responsible for why The City is the way it is.

CHARACTERS

The three main characters, Gwendolyn; Sparrow; and Starling, are all fairly well-rounded. Sparrow and Starling’s sibling relationship is done very well. They are brother and sister, and they act like it. While they bicker a lot, you can still tell they care about each other immensely. Sparrow is a very active child, getting into lots of trouble. However, he has a heart of gold. Starling is usually the one getting them out of trouble and is very clever when it comes to technology. Gwendolyn as well is a clever child. Her imagination allows her to think outside of the box.

Personally, though, my main concerns with the characters were the minor characters. Perhaps the best one was Kolonius Thrash, a swashbuckling teen captain. He was fun and had a bit of depth to him. The rest of them were, unfortunately, largely forgettable. The Cityzens and the ship crew felt very one-sided to me. Not only that, but the antagonists had a moustache-twirling quality that I’m not a fan of personally. I did like the Faceless Gentlemen a bit, though. They had a mysterious quality to them that really worked well for the story. They were eerie and unsettling without being over the top.

OVERALL

The Marvelous Adventures of Gwendolyn Gray is a book that makes imagination real. And that is where I think its strong suit lies. It encourages a message of positivity in the face of negativity. Furthermore, it does not shy away from some very real consequences. Regardless of ones actions, sometimes things just happen. I could imagine reading this book together with a child around the age of 10-12. There are a few references some adults might find amusing.

For me, personally, the weakest area was with the writing. When it was good, it was good. The ending was especially well written. However, there are many parts that felt like the narrator (who adds fun little quips every now and again) was talking down to the reader. Telling them things that I think would’ve been better incorporated through the use of context clues. I also felt that the romantic relationships were unnecessary and brought up some unneeded stereotyping, such as mentioning that all/most teenage boys act like such-and-such. With the narrator being outside the story (i.e., as far as I’m aware, the narrator was not Gwendolyn Gray), I wasn’t a big fan of the stereotyping.

Regardless, I would still recommend this book. It’s fun and has emotional depth. It doesn’t exactly answer every question, but it still has a great ending that could possibly lead to more adventures.

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[I received a digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]

There’s a reason that middle grade books are such a big part of my reading life in my 30’s, and books like this are exactly it. This was such an engaging story that kept me captivated from beginning to end. The style of writing was witty, conversational, and perfectly descriptive.

I loved the adventure, the characters, and especially the overall message of finding your own path and letting your imagination guide you. While his message is important for middle grade readers, it may be even more so for adult readers. Too many adults are quick to dismiss imagination and creativity (and would probably be happy to live in the full world Gwendolyn began in!)

The world built in this story was so entrancing that I honestly didn’t want to leave. I hope that all of the loose ends and “stories for another time” might be clues that more will come from this world. For now, I will have to settle for buying a copy for all my friends with middle grade readers. (and a read aloud copy for my not-quite-middle grade readers)

Thank you to Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.