This was a bit too epic fantasy for me, without actually being epic fantasy. It was just a bit weird, and I had to suspend reality a bit too much. I like when fantasy is grounded in reality in some way, even just with exquisite worldbuilding that tricks my brain, and this didn't do the job.

Had a bit of a hard time getting into this fantasy novel, but could have been due to reading the e-galley on my computer. Once the story gets going then there is more action to move it along.
Ella has cancer and the outlook is not good. Her professor father then disappears, leaving behind journals of his research. Separately, Archie (Ella's grandfather) and Ella read the journals, but Archie actually goes in search of following the dad's steps to find a cure for Ella. Then stuff gets crazy...

While I wasn't the biggest fan of this scifi story, I do see the appeal to teens who love fantasy and scifi. The world creation and characters were fascinating and well constructed.