To be completely honest I finished this book over three months ago back when it was still 2015. I have just been absolutely terrible at everything and have had the title of this post sitting in my drafts folder just waiting to be written. Better late than never right? Plus the trailer for the film version of this book was just recently released so it seems fitting to finally put up a little review.
I loved this book so much. The way it was written was very different from other things I have read. The writing was extremely descriptive like it painted a picture for every scene. It gave the sensation of seeing the story play out in a way that felt more like watching a movie than reading a book. (as you can probably guess I have high expectations for this upcoming film) The basic premise of the story is about a boy who goes out to learn more about his grandfather's mysterious past and the peculiar things he had grown up with. It is a fantastic journey with magic and suspense that was hard for me to put down.
The coolest thing that originally drew me to read this book was the pictures. The author of the novel had a fascination with old photographs and would collect ones he would find in places like antique shops. The story was written using a handful of his collection along with some from other collections, weaving the subjects of these photos into the story. The concept of using the photos of someone's past life and turning it into something new is just the coolest thing to me, probably because that is what I love in general, finding new life in the old. Maybe next time I'm out thrifting I'll look into the big box of black and white photos and see if I can make a little story out of one of them.
Anywho, this is such a lovely novel, 10/10 would read again. Definitely recommend picking up a copy and reading it before the film comes out in September.
until next time,
Julia Carrington
