This lovely book was so good I went back and skimmed through the first 30% all over again just to make sure I had all the pieces to the puzzle.

I had so much fun riding along with Clayton on his puzzle quest to find his birth parents. Who doesn't love a scavenger hunt? And this adventure helps Clayton discover things he didn't realize he was missing, or that he needed.

The characters in this book are not flawless, and this elevates it beyond a simple fun beach read. Clayton isn't just a sweet boy looking for his mother - he is sometimes destructively impatient. Pippa is not just a sweet old lady who wants a baby - she is also carelessly destructive in her need for control and attempts to prove she can do everything. The characters all felt very real, and you can instantly feel the connections and attraction between characters without being told.

It's hard not to race through the book. Just when Clayton gets going, we switch to Pippa's life and the clues to Clayton's parentage, then switch back to Clayton's journey - I wanted all the answers, but I also loved the journey and didn't want it to end. The fun is indeed with the solving.

Many thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for a fair review. I give this easily 5 stars. I loved ALLLLL the characters, I loved Clayton's journey, I loved the people he met along the way. I felt for Pippa even when her mistakes were her own fault. I will miss all the members of the Fellowship and look forward to Samuel Burr's next book.

Original, fascinating but very slow; 3.5 stars
How can a book be one of the most original and fascinating books that I have ever read while at the same time be uncannily boring? When I could stay awake, I truly enjoyed much of this book. I loved the characters but the narrative seemed to drag. Some moments were so poignant I was brought to tears. It was well-written and intriguing. I did indeed want to find out along with Clayton who his parents were, which kept me reading. Unfortunately, my ARC was poorly formatted but thankfully I had also purchased this book so I found the formatting of the published book to be perfect. It would have been most helpful if the ARC had been as well. The chapter titles were all scrambled, not in a puzzling way however. What I realized in looking at my published version was that what I was missing was a clue to a word in a crossword puzzle and a title with spaces where they needed to be. The author alternated chapters of current day (from the book’s standpoint) and back in time before Clayton appeared. Interesting use of flashbacks to show us what transpired in the past. This is a book that I will remember more fondly after the fact than I felt while reading. Lots of good stuff even though. My basic opinion is that the reader will either really like or not like this book. Very few people will be on the fence. I volunteered to review an ARC of this book through NetGalley.

I enjoyed reading the book The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers by Samuel Burr. I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and the publisher. This is my honest and personal review. Happy Reading!

Dual timeline tale of the search for connection as puzzles serve as the connective tissue for family ties amongst a band of intriguing individuals. THE FELLOWSHIP OF PUZZLEMAKERS is enchanting as the characters seek out one another and create lasting relationships over their lifetimes. A child mysteriously left on a doorstep comes of age and wonders about his origins. His adoptive mother leave him one final puzzle to solve upon her death, as her final gift. Will it answer all of his questions? Readers will enjoy the solution set as much as the protagonist. I received my copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Set in England, a quirky cast of characters makes this an endearing read about finding your people. I was not interested in solving the puzzles, perhaps because I read this as an ebook while doing other things, but I'm sure puzzle lovers will especially like this book. I could totally see this being made into a movie or TV series.

This was a 3.5 for me. I really liked it, but I felt like something was missing a little.
What I liked:
- The dual timeline
- The friendship and background stories of some of the people in the fellowship.
- Pip and her love for everyone around her.
- Clayton and Neil (omg the dancing in the boat, SO CUTE)

What I wanted more of / didn't love as much:
- No spoilers, but the mystery of who his parents were was kind of a let down and didn't seem realistic to me.
- I enjoyed the past time line better, I wanted more for Clayton!

Overall I enjoyed it, it was much different than anything I've read! Thanks Netgalley, the publisher, and the author!

Thanks to Doubleday and NetGalley for the ARC of this title.

I'm definitely in a few of the circles that make up the Venn diagram of who'd be interested in this book (enjoyed the cozy nature of the Thursday Murder Club books, will give any book attempting to make solving puzzles/cryptic clues part of its plot a try), and yet this left me a little wanting as a reader.

This may have just been the way my ARC was formatted, but keeping track of where in time each chapter was with the group at the center could be tricky - there are a few plots happening in the same places at different points in time, and it's not always clear where they are. The main plotline was cute (if a little predictable, but that's not always a bad thing - sometimes you want the book equivalent of doritos, and this is definitely brain doritos), but didn't feel like it ended neatly so much as realized the book was done and abruptly hit the brakes.

This was a hard one to get into. A little slow beginning - but then it all comes together!
A lovely story of friendship, love, loss and all the feels.

This book was one of those sweet, loving ones, but too slow-paced for my liking. I also felt no connection to any of the characters. I had high hopes for this one, but it just fell flat for me.

📚 #BOOKREVIEW 📚
The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers by Samuel Burr
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / Pages: 361 / Genre: Fiction

Clayton Stumper was found as a baby in a hatbox at the door of Creighton Hall, home to a commune known as the Fellowship of Puzzlemakers. Brought up by the Fellowship’s leader Pippa Allsbrook along with the rest of the eccentric members, Clayton was always loved and cared for but had no idea where he came from or who his birth parents were. That is, until Pippa passes away and Clayton is sent on a quest to find the answers he’s been seeking his whole life.

I wasn’t smart enough to get all the puzzles that were featured in this book but I truly enjoyed the journey Clayton went on that took him mostly all through London and all the interesting old and new characters he met along the way. It had that cozy mystery feeling without any murdering. It was a delightful read.

Thank you, @NetGalley, @VintageAnchorabooks, and @SamuelBurr for my gifted copy. I loved it!

ℝ𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | 𝔽𝕠𝕣𝕞𝕒𝕥: 𝐸-𝐵𝑜𝑜𝓀

ℝ𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨: 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐜𝐮𝐩 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐨𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐬𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭. 🥹 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲? 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐈 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫. 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥, 𝐮𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈’𝐯𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞, 𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 (𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤).

𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐭𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐨𝐟 𝐏𝐮𝐳𝐳𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐲. 𝐏𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐚 𝐀𝐥𝐬𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐤, 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐮𝐩 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 “𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐞” 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐥𝐞-𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐮𝐳𝐳𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞. 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐏𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐭𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝟐𝟎’𝐬, 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐚 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐮𝐳𝐳𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩’𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐭𝐨𝐧’𝐬 𝐏𝐎𝐕 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐏𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐚’𝐬. 𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐭𝐨𝐧’𝐬 𝐏𝐎𝐕 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐣𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐞 𝐏𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐚’𝐬 𝐩𝐮𝐳𝐳𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐡𝐞’𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞, 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐚 𝐣𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟-𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲. 𝐏𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐚’𝐬 𝐏𝐎𝐕 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞; 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐯𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐤𝐲 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐮𝐬 𝐅𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐨𝐟 𝐏𝐮𝐳𝐳𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧’𝐬 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬 (𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬).

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐳𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝, 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞—𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐢𝐭.

𝕋𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕓𝕠𝕠𝕜 𝕨𝕒𝕤 𝕤𝕦𝕔𝕙 𝕒 𝕥𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕕. 𝕀𝕥 𝕨𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕞𝕒𝕜𝕖 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕒 𝕗𝕒𝕟𝕥𝕒𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕔 𝕓𝕠𝕠𝕜 𝕔𝕝𝕦𝕓 𝕡𝕚𝕔𝕜!

𝒯𝒽𝒶𝓃𝓀 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓉𝑜 𝒩𝑒𝓉𝒢𝒶𝓁𝓁𝑒𝓎, 𝒟𝑜𝓊𝒷𝓁𝑒𝒹𝒶𝓎, & 𝒮𝒶𝓂𝓊𝑒𝓁 𝐵𝓊𝓇𝓇 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓈𝑒𝓃𝒹𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓂𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝒜𝑅𝒞! 𝒜𝓁𝓁 𝑜𝓅𝒾𝓃𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓈 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓂𝓎 𝑜𝓌𝓃.

As a fellow lover of puzzles this book is just a treat. I fully enjoyed being immersed in a world where so many different puzzles were highlighted and used in trying to help Clayton discover his past. The integration of how Clayton came to the Fellowship of Puzzlemakers is perfectly blended with the present. I also really love how it highlights how not everything has to be taken on by one person. A fellowship is just that a group of people who are better together as a whole then the singular. This is a great book for anyone who likes a cozy read or just enjoys doing puzzles as they read through.
Thank you so very much to Vintage Anchor, Doubleday, and Netgalley for allowing me to read an early copy of such a fun book.

From the moment infant Clayton Stumper is left on the doorstep and taken in by an eccentric group of puzzle makers, Samuel Burr's THE FELLOWSHIP OF PUZZLEMAKERS captivated me with excellent writing, superb characters, and a story with twists and turns I didn't expect, but delighted in following. I'm not a puzzle person, but I deeply enjoyed this view into a fascinating world. I received a copy of this book and these opinions are my own, unbiased thoughts.

I can't believe this is a debut book! WOW! As a word nerd, I thought this was a lot of fun. It has a great cast of characters, a mystery, a few sweet romances, and a huge emphasis on the power of finding your people and building community. It's the kind of story that is written so vividly you can practically already see it translated to the screen. It wrapped up a bit quickly for me, but overall I really enjoyed this one!

THE FELLOWSHIP OF PUZZLEMAKERS by Samuel Burr is a charming and intriguing story of friendship and found family that warmed my heart from beginning to end. It is told in dual timelines. The past is told from the perspective of Pippa Allsbrook, a well-known crossword compiler and the founder of The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers, a group of eccentric, but brilliant puzzlemakers, who live together as family in Creighton Hall, the large country home where Pippa was raised. The present is told from the point of view of twenty-six-year-old Clayton Stumper, who was abandoned at birth in a black hat box on the steps of Creighton Hall. Pippa becomes Clayton’s guardian and he is essentially raised by the group of puzzlemakers. When Pippa dies, she leaves behind an intricate series of puzzles for Clayton to solve which will finally reveal the mystery of who his birth parents were and why they gave him away. Following the path of the puzzles, Clayton makes life-changing discoveries about himself that reach far beyond learning who his parents were. I really enjoyed this unique and touching story and highly recommend it. Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read and review an early copy.

My thanks for the ARC goes to NetGalley and Vintage Anchor; Doubleday. I'm voluntarily leaving a review.

Genre: General Fiction, Women's Fiction, Mystery
Spice Level: Fade to black
Format: Two POV, two time periods
Representation: Gay characters

I wanted to love *THE FELLOWSHIP OF PUZZLEMAKERS*, but it was a mixed bag for me.
The main mystery is for Clayton to figure out his parentage.

Here's the tiny problem—I was more connected to Pippa and her story. In fact, Pippa's story was a five star.

It took me a long time to get a bead on Clayton, but he seemed a bit lackluster in personality. I'd give him three stars. (I feel guilty saying that. I never felt like I was really in his head as much as I needed to be to understand how he was feeling about the quest Pippa had put him on—he does state it, but I wasn't feeling it..) My rating lands in the middle of these two for this reason.

Things I loved:
- Pippa and her big ideas
- Pippa's friends
- The setting in the manor
- So many puzzles

I noticed a review that someone over 60 would eat this up . . . but I'm thinking that age isn't the primary factor. I often like books written for an older audience. For me it was all about relationships.
It will be interesting to see who connects with this book the most. *A man? Puzzle aficionados? People who were adopted?* If you're one who loved it, I hope you tell me all about why.

Happy reading!

--------------------------

Before you jump in to read this one, here are content warnings if you want to have some forewarning. (Some of these could be considered minor spoilers.)

Content warnings: death, sexism, cancer, suicidal thoughts (mentioned briefly), car accident (recounted but not in great detail), homelessness, hopelessness.

A young man was adopted by a group of elderly puzzlemakers when he was just a baby. When Pippa, the founder of the group and also his mother, passed away, he went on a quest to find out who he was and who he wanted to be in the future, discovering the world and making meaningful connections along the way.

This book feels like a piece of pastel-colored cream cake with a cute, little cup of flowery tea. It is warm and cozy, full of nice and hardworking people, who wholeheartedly care about each other. It also incorporates some puzzles, mainly crosswords, but also a few other games, which add to the story like sweet, icing sugar on the cake metaphor. Personally, I'm not good at these puzzles, and I have never been that into it, but I could imagine that if you enjoy them, the book would give you a really cool and fun experience, where you can sometimes take a pause from reading and solve the puzzles along with - or even ahead of - the characters.

I like that the story is told in two timelines, and I like both equally. The two timelines have different charms, with the differences between Pippa's and Clayton's personalities as narrators, the different challenges they face in different time periods, and the different goals they have for their journey. Constantly switching between them makes for an engaging reading experiences. I also really enjoy about the book is that it explores many different types of relationship. Although there is a very cute romance in the book, it is given only as much focus as friendships and familial bonds. It has really nice LGBTQIA+ representations, particularly in the discussion of what one's ideal family looks like, how it could look differently to everyone, and the importance of finding a place where you belong.

That said, for a character-centric story, I think that the characters are quite lacking. Although we have a found family with easily distinguishable members, I didn't really care about any of them. I wasn't curious what their stories were, and I didn't root for them to achieve anything. So, even though the prose is beautiful and the plot flows smoothly, I wasn't emotionally invested. This doesn't mean it's a bad book. It's just a mismatch between the book and my expectation. I personally need a book to reach into my chest and rip out my heart, but if you only want a book to make you smile on a Sunday afternoon, I would still recommend this book for you.

I really enjoyed this book. It was different than anything else I've read recently. I couldn't put it down! I will keep an eye out for this author's future work!

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced digital copy of this book.

Clayton Stumper is not your typical English 20-something boy. For one thing, he was abandoned, as a baby and found found in a large hatbox,on the steps of the Fellowship of Puzzlemakers, and has no idea of his true parentage. The owner of the house that headquarters the Fellowship, Pippa Allsbrook, brought him up as her child, but as the story begins, she has recently died.

The story is told in alternating chapters, starting in the 1980s in London when Pippa, a well-known crossword compiler (under a pseudonym, because women didn't do that sort of thing) has the bright idea to start a club of sorts of people who like puzzles and are good at them. She sends a dozen invitations to fellow puzzlers and invites them to spread the word. But even she is surprised when a "legendary codebreaker and international chess master", shows up, along with about a dozen others,

The other chapters tell the story from Clayton's standpoint, beginning at Pippa's wake. She is the only mother he has ever known and now she is dead, but maybe she can still help him find out who his birthmother is?

Thus starts quite the adventure as Clayton goes to London alone for the first time in his life and slowly solves the puzzles he has been left, as well as Pippa's final crossword. And we find out exactly what this Fellowship is all about in the alternate chapters.

SPOILER: Clayton DOES, FINALLY, find his birthmother, but she is a complete surprise to Clayton AND the reader!!

Pippa Allsbrook, an esteemed crossword compiler, starts a group called The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers. She even acquires housing and they all move in together, like one big commune. They are all older, alone, and each one has their own specialty. They enjoy each other's company, and trying out the new puzzles they have created on the group. Even though they are a family, of sorts, Pippa still longs for love, and for children, but those two things have remained elusive to her. Until the day she opens the front door and discovers a crying baby laying in a hatbox, that is. Pippa brings him in, and falls in love immediately. Thus begins the story of Clayton Stumper. Clayton grows up in the Fellowship of Puzzlemakers, raised by Pippa as his mom, and a plethora of "dads". Because of his strange upbringing, he acts and dresses more like a grandpa than a young man in his twenties. When Pippa dies, he decides it is finally time to search for his birth mom. Pippa has laid out clues for him, in the form of a quest, so Clayton sets off on an adventure to discover who he really is.

This dual-timeline book is told in alternating chapters between past and present, with the past starting before Pippa had even begun the Fellowship of Puzzlemakers up until the time she died, and then in the present storyline Clayton is following the clues Pippa laid out for him. I loved the eclectic group of puzzlemakers, each with their own talents and story. There was a maid that worked at the Fellowship that seemed to mess up more than she got right, and she kept bringing to mind one of my favorite childhood characters - Amelia Bedelia. I loved watching Clayton go on his journey of self-discovery, where he not only learned who his parents were, but he learned more about himself and grew as a person as well. This is one of those feel good novels that you will enjoy so much, you will want to discuss with others after you are done. I loved it, and I think you will too.