Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me an advanced copy of this book to read and review.

Solid story, unique perspectives. The characters were a little flat, but the novel was atmospheric. Unfortunately DNFed

This book had a pretty cool concept, but I just couldn't get into it. I probably was not the right kind of reader for this story.

I found this book boring and hard to get into. I spent the first 100 pages of the book wondering what was happening and what was going on. Some readers may like this, but I do not, and it made it hard to read.

Wow!! What an excellently written novel. Such depth to the characters and such an absolutely unique story, Phoebe North proves that they are an asset to the writing community. Really enjoyed reading this one!!

Strange creatures is right! This book was strange and I am not really sure what to say about it. I loved the haunting and heartbreaking story. It was beautifully written and the myth and the bonds of the characters was wonderful. Family, love, sorrow, and more await the reader of this story.

I can’t give a full review on this book because I just couldn’t read it.
I tried quite a few times to get into it but it just didn’t click with me. I have asked my teenager to give it a try, if she can get through it, I will update with her review.

Annie and Jamie are sister and brother. They grew up super close, bonded by their shared love of a magical world called Gumlea which they created and escaped to frequently throughout their childhood. As the two grew older, though, Jamie begins to distance himself from their shared world and one day Jamie disappears. Annie is convinced Jamie has become trapped in Gumlea and is determined to bring him back. This proves increasingly difficult as time goes on and everyone believes that Jamie isn't gone, but rather that he is dead. Is Jamie simply trapped or is he really dead? If he is merely trapped, does Annie have the power to bring Jamie back? The twist in this book will certainly be unexpected!

I will be honest and say I struggled with this book. The mix of fantasy and reality often is as confusing for the reader as it is for Annie herself. Perhaps North does this on purpose, especially early on and at the end, but I really got into this book when North sticks to Annie's reality through much of the middle of this book. The overlapping relationships that some of the characters have with both Jamie and Annie provide the meat of this story and this aspect of the story is the most intriguing, for me personally.