i’m a puddle but this book was amazing. i have never cried over buttons more than when reading this.

from the very beginning of this story, i had a feeling i was going to love it. linus is a character that, while at first glance might seem like a bland, lonely cog in a machine, contains so much love and bravery and kindness within him. seeing the children and arthur through his point of view was a great way to understand the complexity of the situation and how some of it was actually very simple. but while linus was a great character, the kids on the island were absolutely my favorite part of this book. chauncey, theodore, sal, phee, talia and lucy felt so tangible and different through klune's writing that i immediately become attached to them (hence the crying over buttons). they made this story as colorful and heartbreaking and whole as it was. that's not to say that the adults weren't impactful and funny and lovely, but how can you compete with a female gnome, a wyvern that loves buttons, a forest sprite, a were-pomeranian, an unidentifiable wannabe-bellhop blob and the antichrist?