This read definitely gave me all the expected vibes/atmosphere, but I don’t know how much of that is from the BBC tv series/film (one of which, or maybe both, use mostly the exact dialogue and plot beats of the book - dialogue and beats I’d completely forgotten until reading this, so it felt a bit odd lol), and how much from Lewis' writing. I guess I’ll only know when I read an instalment I haven’t read/watched in another format.  

The writing style was really fun, and the book was much faster paced and less preachy than I was expecting. But, there were definitely some outdated takes on gender e.g. Lucy and Susan's royal titles (Gentle and Valiant) were because men wanted to marry them, whereas the boys’ were for their bravery, knowledge etc. 

This read also definitely brought up some questions, namely about the characters eating meat in Narnia... if all the animals are sentient/talk to each other, who are they eating and how are they farming it?? I know it’s just a kid’s book, but I couldn’t get the question out of my head every time they ate bacon or something.  

Also, bull with a man's head?? Wtf is that?? 

Having said that, overall this was a fun time, and I’m excited to read on in the series and get to stories I’m less familiar with.