4.25/5

this was soooo cute! fantasy isn’t really for me so that’s why i didn’t give it higher but I still really enjoyed it nonetheless. :)

also i need a book about Kade pls thx

3.5 stars
As a concept this was very intriguing, I love the idea of considering heroes/main characters in a sort of 'after the fact' way. What were the Pevensie kids like after literally growing up in Narnia and then returning to their youth in World War II England?

In execution though, this was a lot. I probably would enjoy this more on a re-read, but Nancy is really thrown into the thick of things and the language and ideas are big barriers to understanding: I was confused until 35%.

At this point in my life I don't read a ton of young adult, but I did appreciate that this felt like upper YA, where punches were not really pulled and there was violence/gore on page and the topics were for an older age bracket in my opinion. (sadistic?)

I was intrigued and felt a rising of my interest when the first murder happened, but everything felt break-neck speed after that, especially since there was not much time between multiple killings

I felt confused, then intrigued, but also a bit overloaded: there were numerous characters and so much information to absorb, sometimes it was easiest to just let the information wash over me and proceed without having taken it in. Like I think Nancy's roommate was supposed to have made a bigger impact when she died, but I hadn't felt attached to or interested in her? There were many introductions of (I assume) recurring characters, but it felt almost like this book and school are a way-station, so why get attached to any characters?

In my vlog, I compared this to Alice in Wonderland in that I was not thrilled with the amount of Nonsense and Chaos, and I did not feel that this improved throughout the novella. I also wondered what was the overall point or goal of the school? Especially since the stated answer was NOT to rehabilitate the kids? I was able to guess who the bad guy was at a good point in the story, not too early. This book definitely felt to me like the first in the series, with a lot of setup and with the tone of how it ended. It felt a bit like the author has random setting ideas but doesn't want to do a whole world, so she can refer to a place that is just an idea, especially if it's 'high nonsense'.

After reading some reviews: I agree with the description that this is a "dark creepy fairytale." I did enjoy the writing and a handful of quotes. I did like the theme of belonging, and could identify with how the kids just wanted to get back to a place that was where they fit, and that this was something that they longed for. One of the top negative reviews points out that there was a 'shallowness' to both the characters and the ideas explored/presented, and I agree-- this book felt rushed and I could have done with double the page count. Another reviewer points out that this book needed a 'middle' to round out and settle in to the proposed setting work that was done in the first 100 pages. Some felt the ending was underwhelming (agree) or unsatisfying (disagree). There was commentary mentioned on some big issues, but for me this was not explored to my satisfaction: LGBT, trauma and mental illness, gender norms...