“Only the right name gives beings and things their reality,’ she said. ‘A wrong name makes everything unreal.”

This novel is truly a masterpiece. My mother read it to me when I was little, and I picked it up again twenty years later. And oh my, what a journey it has been. I thought I was going to read a great classic middle-grade fantasy, maybe with dragons and some nice morals at the end… and I ended up with a metaphysical treatise seasoned with existential dread in my hands. I’m not mad about it: I loved it.

It makes you think about the power that wishes and dreams have over humanity, how they can bring joy or twist into insanity. And you really have to pay attention to what you’re wishing for, especially if it’s about changing yourself. I don’t think it can be fully appreciated by reading it superficially or skimming through it, or by expecting it to be like the movie.

I recommend getting a physical copy to enjoy the text in green and red, which is truly part of the reading experience💚❤️