Celandine

Lying in bed all day does luckily have some benefits, one of which is virtually unlimited reading time!

In two days I raced through Celandine by Steve Augarde. Technically it's a children's book, but like all good kids' literature, it's enjoyable for everyone. It centers around a young girl, Celandine, who runs away from an evil boarding school to live with faeries that inhabit the wild forest on her parents' farm. These aren't tinkerbell faeries though; they're strange, dark, suspicious and completely foreign. In fact, the whole book is very dark and filled with sombre themes like death, loneliness, fear and betrayal. There are very few jolly moments, but a few sentimental ones

The plot is pretty straightforward, if a bit slow-paced, the characters remain steady and the writing flows effortlessly from page to page. While most readers will be a step ahead of the protagonist (she's 12, after all), this doesn't interfere with the general enjoyableness of the story. The world draws you in through it's uniqueness, consistency and depth. It's the kind of book that makes you want to read just one more chapter before putting it down.

Celandine is the second book in the Various trilogy, but it's virtually a stand-alone book. While there is the obligatory running mystery that's left unsolved, it isn't one that'll cost you much sleep at night. The main story is resolved quite nicely, in fact. But of course you want to know what happens to your favourite characters, and I for one am eagerly awaiting book three.

If you like your faeries dark and ambiguous, your protagonists miserable and your story and setting imaginative, you'll probably like Celandine. It's quick, easy reading that pulls you along, and the occasional illustrations bring a touch of elegance to the text. It's a great entertaining book, even if your mom doesn't read it to you! ;)