Impressively, literally nothing of interest happens in this book. It is entirely predictable throughout, and the main character has almost no independent thought and just spends the book doing whatever she is told to, usually at the behest of some boy she has only just met. Classic Stine.

Some beautiful writing in parts, but overall this didn’t add much to the ‘parent dealing with bereavement’ genre. A lot of elements seemed to be pretty standard, almost over-used. Especially Agnes the village wise-woman, who is just innately connected to nature and was apparently born wiser and more intelligent than everyone else. Plus I’m not a fan of the ‘no bond is stronger than that of mother and child’ trope. I’m guessing most of the members of the 2020 Women’s Prize judging panel are parents.