When 2 or 3 specialist children's book sellers that I know had effectively said to me that Liesl & Po was their pick of the year for 2011, I knew I was onto something special. One of them asked me if I had read it yet every time I saw her.
Well I have read it now, and what do I think? I thought it was fantastic!
Lauren Oliver is carefully deliberate with her words and the way she stitches them together that you know she has the skill that some authors lack. What I mean by that is this: quite often, a book will be written because someone had a good idea for a story. That's fine, but they don't necessarily have the skill to inspire awe with their writing technique. And i'm not saying that these books aren't worth reading either. But what I love, what Oliver has achieved here, is the brilliant combination of having a great story AND knowing how to string a sentence together that isn't the same mix of words that has been used so many times before. I don't mean laboured either! The note from the author in the back said she wrote it in a concentrated two month period.
The result is an easy to read, beautifully written, engaging adventure story that reveals just enough of the human condition to be genuinely moving and insightful.
I don't want to go on too much on what it's about. You're more than capable of reading the back of the cover in whatever shop you'll by it from (or the blurb on the website, if you swing that way). I'll just sum it up like this: It's about a girl, a ghost, a pet, a boy, a box filled with the most powerful magic in the world and a string of other characters that are out to help, hinder, or just look after the common good.
Find it on Goodreads
4/40
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