This book knocked my socks off. The starting scene, of a group of kids on bikes setting off down a dark road might suggest Stranger Things but a closer emotional match is probably Spirited Away. Ben is one of five boys from his school who decide that this year, after the autumn festival, they will follow the paper lanterns released into the river below their town to see where they go. An old folk song says they turn into stars and rise into the sky, but that can't be true, can it? Tagging after the group is Nathaniel, a nerd and an outsider. Ben's friends tease him and Ben is too uncomfortable to speak up in his defense. But one by one the others drop out until only Ben and Nathaniel are left on the mission to follow the river and the lights. The things they discover are weirder, scarier, more beautiful and more wonderful than either could have imagined- or what I, as the reader, had imagined. This book really went places I wasn't expecting and I loved that. The art is gorgeous- an energetic pencil line with digital colors heavy on blues and purples, except for a few warm yellow or active magenta scenes. I think I will end up buying this book because I want to keep looking at it!