My favourite of Kate’s books will always be labyrinth, (hence 4 stars not 5 - although it’s probably closer to 4.5 stars) but this was a close second. I love the world that Kate conjures, and the fact that she makes me feel like I’m there. I always want to visit the locations she sets her books in. I couldn’t connect as deeply to the characters here as in Labyrinth, but that could be due to the fact my life is about 500x more busy than it was all those years ago, and I’ve gotten used to reading easier things.