This is the closest I've come to DNFing a book this year. Despite the fact that I liked the writing style, it did not take me long to realise that there was little else that I liked about this book.

I didn't care at all for a single character in this book. This sends huge alarm bells ringing in my head. Characters are so important for me and the fact that I could not care less about what happened to them was a huge negative for me. In fact, I could not help but be completely irritated by the use of 'Not-Triss' as a name for a good portion of this book, it did nothing to help me connect to the characters. I liked the initial premise behind the plot, but it very quickly spiralled into so many different sub-plots and things going on that I spent most of the book wondering what the hell was going to happen, but not in a good way. I'm not being funny but this 'girl' was eating beads, shoes(!), newspaper, all sorts of weird and wonderful items. Rather than feeling intrigued and mystified, I just felt that it was completely and utterly ridiculous. I just could not connect with this book at all, which is a shame. I've heard many great things about Frances Hardinge books and maybe one day I'll try another one.

There are so many positive reviews of this story and I just can't quite wrap my head around what it is that I am missing. Obviously just not the book for me!