Such a strange, beautiful, disturbing, cruel novel.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this short book but I was not disappointed. And there were some things I was definitely not expecting, that took me by surprise.

A really intriguing book. I cannot find enough words to describe in coherent sentences the array of worlds each student traveled to and to some extent bought back with them and shared. So here are a few words I feel best sum up the feel of the book: strange, curious, mysterious, eerie, extraordinary.

Some things the characters said confused me so much, due to how the worlds they named home changed their outlook and language. Their sentences because incomprehensible and in those small doses, that just added to the story. 

The climax at the end, although I had no problems while reading it, in hindsight lacked any amplification and was cut short. The calm afterwards, was short and peaceful, and the very end bought my to a few near tears.

But overall a wholesome read. It didn’t focus on the details of what each character looked like, or the the more general settings. The story telling was in the plot and Seanan McGuire let our imagination effortlessly do the rest.