genre: fantasy
As a casework for the Department in Charge of Magical Youth, Linus Baker leads an orderly, quiet - if dull - life. He is devoted to following all the rules and regulations to ensure that all magical children living in department-run orphanages are safe and well cared for. His own fastidiousness leads, one day, to an unexpected and surprising assignment: he must travel to Marsyas Island Orphanage to determine if this very secret and highly classified outpost is being well run by its caretaker, one Mr. Arthur Parnassus. What Linus learns there, both about his exemplary charges and Mr. Parnassus himself, will completely change the way he sees the world.
Okay. This was actually quite delightful. I really do love make-your-own-family stories and the magical creature-children here sometimes had me laughing out loud. They are quirky and incorrigible and the whole book has such a gentle-parenting vibe that I really liked. I liked how much of this book is about loving yourself and others for exactly what you can offer, about making room for all kinds of people and, especially, for the honor it is to defend those who need some backup. It took me a while to keep everyone straight but once I did, I was hooked and while I never super fell in love with Linus as a main character, I did fall in love with how the island slowly but surely made him one of their own.
1 comment:
Everyone loves this book so much, and I tried it and it fell completely flat for me. Maybe I didn't give it enough of a chance. It just felt so deliberately cute. It could be that I tried it during the paninidemic and I just wasn't in the mood.
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