3 stars
A unique concept with interesting results.
Overall, the book was pretty good. I think its important to take into account how it came about and the way it was written. The pacing was rather fast and meandering, which is understandable given its writing process. Likewise, there isn’t much character development and I didn’t feel connected to the characters at all. Many of them felt flat, but again that’s understandable.
The story was certainly creative, combining puppets, magic mirrors, the power of promises, magic music boxes, missing brothers, talking badgers, deadly accidents, princes, queens, trinkets, and a whole medley of other things. There is a lot going on and many elements at play. It was fun to see how all of the elements came together and played off each other.
When it comes right down to it, the book itself wasn’t great in terms of writing or plot, but given its means of creation, it is pretty impressive. It makes for a unique reading experience. In the end it is what it is, a little bit of everything that isn’t super developed but has some interesting results.