Liesl lives in a tiny attic bedroom, locked away by her cruel stepmother. Her only friends are the shadows and the mice, until one night a ghost appears from the darkness. It is Po, who comes from the Other Side. Both Liesl and Po are lonely, but together they are less alone.

That same night, an alchemist’s apprentice, Will, bungles an important delivery. He accidentally switches a box containing the most powerful magic in the world with one containing something decidedly less remarkable

Will’s mistake has tremendous consequences for Liesl and Po, and it draws the three of them together on an extraordinary journey.

 3 stars

From the beginning it almost felt like reading something like Neil Gaiman, because ghosts, alchemists, magics and such. Okay so that may be a bad thing to incorporate L&P with Gaiman, because they are totally different writers. As I understand, this is the only children’s book that Lauren Oliver has written.

So I think it may be a good idea for her to stick with YA like Before I Fall. It’s not that I didn’t enjoy reading it. It was good but not that good of a story. It felt lacking in something. Oliver said in her author’s note that this was the most personal book she has written, I know this was inspired by death of her best friend and that’s probably the most awful thing in the world, and I hope and pray through this book she has felt better or is in a good state now – but I think she was right in thinking that this was unpublishable.

Hey, I still look forward to reading her other books; I hear good things about them. I don’t judge because of one book.