• Author: H.G. Parry
• Series: Standalone
• Publisher: Little Brown Book Group, Orbit Books
• No. of pages: 496
• Dates read: 18.01.20 – 25.01.20
• Rating: 4 stars

First of all, thank you Little Brown Book Group and Orbit Books for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Plot: For his entire life, Charley Sutherland has concealed a magical ability he can’t quite control: he can bring characters from books into the real world. His older brother, Rob – a young lawyer with an utterly normal life – hopes that this strange family secret will disappear with disuse, and he will be discharged from his duty of protecting Charley and the real world from each other. But then, literary characters start causing trouble in their city, making threats about destroying the world, and for once, it isn’t Charley’s doing. There’s someone else out there who shares his powers and it’s up to Charley and a reluctant Rob to stop them – before anyone gets to The End.

What can I say about this book that is going to do it justice.

Well, first off, I apprehensive. Going into this book I thought I was going to get another version of something similar to Inkheart, truth be told I never actually read the book I just watched the film, but I was expecting something similar.

What I didn’t expect was something so nuanced and rich and let me tell you I have never had the urge to read Charles Dickens until I finished this book!

So, let’s talk about the characters. I loved Charley, to me he was so much fun and I loved exploring his incredible gift. He was the perfect character to root for and watching him through this book you just want to be right their beside him helping him out. I loved his love for literature, I mean I think all books fans will love the way this book loves and lifts up literature. The way he explains his varied points about a variety of stories, the way he feels for the characters he brings out, the way he explains the importance of reading just made me fall in love with him.

Millie was by far my favourite character, she is everything I want to be in a crisis. Level-headed, determined and rising to the occasion despite her fear. I really resonated with her, the fact that she takes on this leadership role despite not really being ready for it. I loved her compassion and her sense of adventure.

Now Rob and I had a tough time with him at the beginning of the story. I found him annoying at times, but I think that is due to my willingness to explore Charley’s abilities and where that leads and that was very different to Rob at the beginning of this novel. I found some of his grievances with Charley and his arguments with him to be a bit forced and I was worried I wouldn’t connect with Rob but something shifted about halfway through the story. While I wouldn’t say I fell in love with Rob, his actions at the end of the book made me respect him and want to re-read the book to see my thoughts on him knowing what I know now.

I think the main takeaway for me with this book is that this is a book I think all book lovers must read. This book is essentially a love letter to the reader, I loved how the magic of bringing characters out of books comes from a deep connection with the story and with a specific character. I love that when this character comes out it comes out with quirks that resonate with how the reader saw that character or how the reader felt when reading the book. I just loved this as it showed the power of reading and the power and magic of connecting with a specific book or character.

Also, Charley has a perfect explanation of the beauty of reading which I instantly felt and was like this author gets it!

It took me some time to fall in love with this book, it was more of a slow burn relationship, but when I did, I fell hard. I would recommend this book to any fantasy or classics fans.

The next book I plan to read is another ARC called The Last Smile in Sunder City by Luke Arnold. I am getting Rivers of London vibes from this book, we shall see.