This was a solidly not-bad book, one that I think lost a bit from being read on an iPad (I started on a Kindle, but the images proved too difficult to see properly), but also that didn't have much to lose to begin with.
The use of the photographs was a nice conceit, but it remained a conceit the entire time, never truly reaching levels of being either interesting or compelling. They just kinda were (and I admit, I was far more interested in their true provenance than in the explanation the book provides).
Still, it was a decent YA novel, with a relatable protagonist who, thankfully, never does anything stupid merely to advance the plot, and a cast of supporting characters who, despite being peculiar, are quite standard (especially in the British Orphanage genre).
The best part of the book is how it recreates the moment of growing up and realizing that your childhood heroes are deeply flawed, but then lets you escape from a world where said hero is possibly psychotic and probably a philanderer into one where he is forever a hero. There's something...not escapist, but reassuringly fantastic about this sort of story--that the magic doesn't HAVE to die.
Overall, though, I was mostly underwhelmed by this book. It was definitely better than meh, but I feel like it had so much more potential, but never really did anything.