📖 BOOK REVIEW⠀📚 The Edge of in Between
AUTHOR: Lorelei Savaryn @loreleisavarynauthor
Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers @vikingbooks
Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ + 🐰
Published: April 19, 2022
https://bookshop.org/shop/ZaineyLaney
Goodreads link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58608032-the-edge-of-in-between
Book Purchase link:
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/624501/the-edge-of-in-between-by-lorelei-savaryn/
Author Bio:
Lorelei Savaryn (loreleisavaryn.com) is an author of creepy, magical stories for children. She holds a BA in creative writing and is a former elementary teacher and instructional coach. When she isn’t writing, she spends her time amidst the beautiful chaos of life with her husband and four children outside of Chicago.
Author Links:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19500389.Lorelei_Savaryn
https://www.instagram.com/loreleisavarynauthor/
The Review 📚 The Edge of in Between
✨ The Title/Cover Draw:
- I had been following the author on Tiktok and since I have a love for The Secret garden, I had to read this. Thank you to Turn the Page Tours and Lorelei for allowing me to read this ahead of publication to share with you all!
💜 What I liked:
- While this is a Secret Garden retelling, there are some definite differences. This is a magical and real perspective on death and sorrow. The book is intended for middle grade readers as well, but doesn’t skimp on the allegorical references to deeper subjects. Everytime I look at this cover, I just want to hug this book to me because it’s just so beautiful.
😱 What I didn’t like:
- For me, the book went almost too fast, but that’s to be expected in a middle grade. I guess it just goes to show that I really wanted more of this story the characters.
🚦 My face at the end: 🥰🦄
💭 Reasons to Read:
- 1. Secret Garden re-telling
- 2. Colorful magic
- 3. Creepy house
- 4. Commentary on sorrow
🕧 Mini-Summary:
- Lottie lives in a magical land of color, until one day her parents die and turns gray. Her uncle invites her to his spooky mansion, but will she find her family and magic again?
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Received from Netgalley.
💯 For more details on the books we read, be sure to follow me on TikTok (@zaineylaney) or check out our Podcast – Elated Geek!
📘 Summary 📚 The Edge of in Between
A spellbinding tale of magical realism, where twelve-year-old Lottie’s colorful world turns suddenly gray when an unexpected accident claims her parents, and she is uprooted from her home to live with an eccentric uncle she never knew she had–on the border that separates the living and the dead.
Lottie lives in Vivelle–the heart of a vibrant city where life exists in brilliant technicolor and nearly everyone has magic. And Lottie is no exception; she can paint pictures to life in every shade and hue imaginable. But at the sudden loss of her parents, all the color is stripped from Lottie’s heart and the world around her. Taken in by her reclusive, eccentric uncle, Lottie moves into Forsaken, his vast manor located in the gray wasteland between the Land of the Living and Ever After, the land of the dead.
The discovery of a locked-up garden, a wise cardinal, a hidden boy, and a family whose world is full of color despite the bleakness around them begins to pull at the threads of what it means to live in such a near-dead place, slowly returning some of the color to Lottie’s private world and giving her hope that life is worth living and experiencing fully, even while one carries sorrow.
But as time runs out, Lottie must find a way to thaw both the world and the hearts of her uncle, cousin, and those she has come to know and love in her new home, or all of Forsaken–including Lottie herself–will be absorbed by Ever After long before their time.
An exquisitely written, richly imagined, stunning portrait of love and loss, magic and hope; a true celebration of the strength we all possess to transcend tragedy–and the gifts that make life worth living.