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I loved this book. It is rare when I find a book that so engrosses me that I lose track of all that is going on around me. This book was able to do that.The story reminds me of the stories I read as a child that captured my imagination and turned me into an avid reader. I look forward to reading the sequel I just downloaded on Kindle.

Super, fast, no problem

This was everything I expected.

I LOVED reading this story to my children. It kept both 6&12 interested and excited for story time at the end of the day. What a wonderful journey we shared with the characters as we slipped into dreamland... Enjoy!

Very sweet.

I belabored my choice of star rating on this book. I found the world-building to be quite good and I really did enjoy the story. The fairies and the portals between different worlds, the really evil baddies, and the innocence of the kids--it was truly the stuff of classic fairy tale!

But I found it tedious to read. I never felt "sucked in" and the language was somewhat laborious. Oddly, though, it was that old-fashioned, laborious language that gave the book such charm...and the reason I considered giving it four stars.

All in all, though, because it took me forever to trudge through it, and because there were too many places where the voice and language were a hindrance, I rounded down to three stars.

I also agree that the vocabulary level was pushing limits for a middle grade novel. I'm a college graduate with a pretty hefty vocabulary, and had no problem with any of the words. But the sheer quantity of them, combined with the unusual cadence of the author's voice and the characters' dialog, pushes it over the edge.

That said, I think it would make a great read-aloud for parents who enjoy reading longer books to their kids.

3 1/2 stars

Victoria is from 1890s England, Elliot is from 1966 New Hampshire. Both are about 11 years old, and both - in their own place and time - find magical rings that are filled with power and the ability to access doors to different worlds, and different times.

Once Victoria shows up in Elliot's time, they quickly become fast friends and just as quickly are thrown into a menacing situations, complete with an evil knight who's shield bares what appears to be a black hole for an emblem. After Elliot's mother's apparent death, both children are transported to the Faerie world, where they learn that dangerous quests await them. Both children are sent on individual (but related) quests to different (but connected) worlds.

So, my thoughts:

The premise of this books is quite intriguing: that worlds and times are interwoven.
I loved some of the concepts in this book and the various levels to the plots and characters. Most of the book is fairly predictable, but I found myself surprised at certain twists along the way and guessing as to the true good/evil nature of some of the characters. However, this was peppered with some over explanation that I didn't feel was quite necessary (however, if a reader is more literal or doesn't want to be left questioning, then this could be a good thing).

I thought author Maxwell did a great job of cutting back and forth between Victoria's and Elliot's stories. For most of the book, one chapter is about Victoria, the next is about Elliot, then back to Victoria, then Elliot, and so forth. I felt the flow and breaks worked well, and I always felt I slipped easily back into each character's tale. (However, I did feel that Elliot's story was far more developed and detailed).

The story feels a lot like a novelized fairy tale. It certainly seemed like Maxwell was paying homage to classic fairy tale elements, and I did enjoy this, as will (I think) fans of folklore and fairy tales. Because of this, some of the events in the book are a little creepy, and may disturb young readers, but overall everything stayed just shy of too creepy. There was, I believe, only one passage that I felt was a little too much, but it wasn't dwelt on (if I'm recalling correctly, I think it dealt with heads on stakes, but I could be wrong, and was just in passing).
This is part of what I loved most about this book -- 1) that I never really felt Maxwell talked down to the audience, and 2) that Maxwell has a fantastic way with words and vocabulary, and uses both! So, if you have, or are, a young reader that loves words and learning new ones (or old ones that have gone out of style) but still want stories that are age appropriate, then this is a fantastic book! I found myself wanting to look up some of the words a few time, haha! :)

Sometimes Maxwell inserts 'information' about the real world - like, little tidbits of learning. Some of this fit well into the story and didn't bother me, but sometimes it did break up the flow a little.

Overall, I really liked the characters, but most of this stemmed from the first part/half of the book, and after that the character introspection seemed to go away. Yes, the characters face ever-increasing dangers, so we can derive their character from their actions, but I wanted to know more of what drove them.
I also found myself questioning the way Victoria went about completing her quest. Not anything immoral or the like, but more that she didn't seem to do that much. It seemed she waited to be told what to do - more of a, 'don't worry, Victoria, you're at the right place at the right time, and it will make sense later on.' I don't mind some of this, but I felt it was a little too much compared to the decisions she made on her own, and her challenges just never really felt comparable to Elliot's (until the end, perhaps). However, I was glad that ballet played such a strong role in the book, and young dancers will appreciate this as well.

All this, combined with the rather vague climax, was unfortunate, because all the elements were there to make the story so much more.

Something else of note, this book is very heavy on description. If you like description, then you'll probably enjoy Maxwell's. But, for me it overpowered the actual story and I found myself loosing interest in the events because things got slowed down. Also, there were so many descriptions it was hard to sort out what was important and what wasn't.

Overall, this is a solid book and a I'd probably look up other of Maxwell's works. But, for me, this tale was lacking in places, but I did still enjoyed the book.

Victoria Deveny and Elliott Good are two young children, living half a century apart, as well as half a world apart. Both children love faerie tales, and are brought together by a magical portal from Victoria's place/time to Elliott's place/time. Once they meet, the two children discover a magical gateway to the Land of Faeries, where, under the service of Queen Edwina, queen of the faeries, they embark on separate quests to retrieve magical orbs. They must overcome obstacles and face perilous dangers in order to retrieve the orbs, and save the faerie world, as well as their own, from the Shadow Knight, who wants to close the portal between the human and faerie worlds, as well as unleash every kind of evil upon the worlds.

This novel is delightful, and only gets better as it moves along. This novel is reminiscent of the Chronicles of Narnia series, as well as several Grimms Fairy Tales. It is not only entertaining, but refreshing as well. It has just the right mix of friendship, adventure, peril, and mystery. Whether you are discovering the pleasure of fantasy adventures for the first time, or like me, you are an adult who is looking to recapture and revisit the joys of fairy tales you loved as a child, you will be captivated by the world that B. E. Maxwell has created.

I heartily recommend this book for all ages, and eagerly await the sequel!