I’ll start my review by getting this out in the open....I preferred the movie. Yes I know that’s blasphemy but the movie presents itself a lot better.
I was hoping to have the storyline fleshed out a little but this is a direct copy of the movie with some short underground fairy tales thrown in.

Don’t get me wrong this isn't a bad book at all, I just wanted more. Just a reminder that if you haven’t seen the movie this is not a kids book and it’s gruesome!

I received this from Net Galley as a proof reading copy in exchange for a fair review. If you have seen the film of Pan's Labyrinth then you will know what to expect. I was very interested in reading this as a fan of both Guillemo Del Toro and Cornelia Funke. The book did not loose any of the fairy tale magic of the film and the interspersed fairy tales are actually better written down. If anything I felt that the story was too short. I would have like to know more about Franco's Spain and the rebels in the woods. I would love to use extracts from the novel for AQA English Language paper 1 as it is beautifully written and full of rich imagery.

Pan's Labyrinth, I loved the film so I was rather excited when I saw the book appear on Netgalley.

Now it's been quite a long time since I watched the Pan's Labyrinth film and I'll admit that as much as I loved it, I did struggle with the foreign side of things.

To be honest I always prefer a book so I was hoping that this tale would live up to my expectations and it absolutely did.

A wonderful telling of a dark, emotive fairytale.

The characters were written just as I'd imagined them and actually complimented the movie quite well although if you haven't seen the movie I would recommend reading this book first as it allows the reader to create the worlds spoke about in their minds.

This story isn't that long but the slow pace and build of it makes you really want to take your time over each and every word.

Sort of poetic in places.

Highly recommended.

Pan's Labyrinth is one of my favourite films, so I was both excited and apprehensive about a new book depicting the story coming out. My apprehension disappeared within the first chapter. This book reads beautifully and it brings the magic of the film with it. Both Del Toro and Funke's writing makes the fairytale so real the words feel almost enchanted somehow. The story follows the movie so if you loved the film you will love this too. It's emotional and poignant. A beautiful story to add to my collection and one to read to my children in the future.

Within this dark and unarguably unique story, Guillermo del Toro perfectly weaves his eerie, creepy style into an equally haunting tale. The juxtaposition between whimsical, almost lyrical, writing and the profoundly immoral and wicked characters makes this book stand out from similar books of its kind.

For most readers this is probably a well-known story, given the established movie, but for me it wasn't. The story crept up on me at a slow pace, almost too slow in fact. Whilst I really struggled with the pacing, failed to wholly connect with any of the characters (finding a couple of them particularly vacuous) and struggled to care too much what happened to them, I did really like where it eventually ended up and the playfully quaint but, at times, barbaric and capricious nature of it made for an interesting read.

Not entirely compelling, absolutely not for the faint hearted, but definitely has impact.

I was so pleased and excited to receive this book via NetGalley that I pretty much dropped everything to read it. I love the movie 'Pan's Labyrinth' but, being a foreign language film and having to watch it with subtitles was always a little distracting. So to have the story to read in book form is fantastic.

Ofelia and her heavily pregnant mother move to an old mill surrounded by dense woods in Spain during the second world war. The place is creepy and damp and miserable but this is the place where her new stepfather, a cruel high ranking officer in the Spanish army has been stationed and he wants his son to be born there. Ofelia is not happy to be in such a dismal place. She misses her dead father terribly, and hates her new stepfather with a passion. Obsessed with books, particularly fairy tales, Ofelia finds herself drawn to the woods where she comes across an ancient labyrinth and finds herself in a mystical, magical world where she meets fairies and a faun.

This is a violent and often bloody fairy tale for grown ups. Perhaps slightly reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland in some ways but much darker.

It is very unusual for me to read a book based on a movie, rather than the other way round but I very much enjoyed this book. The story is obviously very much like the movie but it adds a little bit of extra backstory and I would certainly recommend the book to all fans of the movie and newcomers to the story as well.

3.75 stars.

I loved the film of Pan's Labyrinth,but I fear it spoilt the book for me a bit.
I wasn't given the chance to imagine any of the creatures because they were already there in my head.
As was the story,although I've forgotten a good bit of it.
I don't think I've read anything by Funke before,but if this is her style,I'm sure I will in the future.
Where this book will really come into it's own,is in a beautifully illustrated hardback.
It was brutal in parts,but also just a little bit magical.
I liked it a lot,just sorry I didn't love it

I have been very lucky to read some great books through net valley and there have been a few I have considered buying afterwards but Pans Labyrinth is a definite future purchase, it has been beautifully written and evokes memories of reading fairy tales when I was younger, the story builds around several interlocking fairy tales and the brave Ophelia who has been torn from her loving home to a forest with her evil step rather and her pregnant mother. It follows the movie brilliantly (if you haven't seen it you must) and as you read the story you remember the amazing characters that were created for it All in all I loved it and I think the next thing to do is do an illustrated version. I can't wait for release day.