Note: The title of this book has been translated into English by me for the reading comprehension of this blog's viewers as the book itself isn't available in English (yet). The original title reads Het magische meer.
Sometimes you just gotta check out a book based on the awesome cover art. Spoilers ahead.
Minne, the twin sister of our main character Fie, is in a deep slumber and won't wake up. Her parents and doctor insist that it's a coma, but Fie is determined that Minne is under some kind of dark influence which has its source in the fantasy world she and her sister made up when they where younger: Whitehaven (Withaven in the original). Joined by her crush and later best friend Alex, Fie and him travel to Whitehaven in order to find out what ails Minne, and to cure her. But it turns out not just Minne is at stake; all of Whitehaven is suffering because the protective northern lights are gone, which keep the evil creatures such as witches and goblins at bay.
I went blindly into this book, and boy am I glad I did, because this was an experience. This book just pulled me in from the start and it wouldn't let me go until I finished it. It has a bunch of tropes I'm very fond of that make me like it, obviously, but it's also legit just a really good book.
The characters are great. This book doesn't have a very large cast of characters, but the ones that are there are just honestly very good. Fie is such a likable protagonist, not perfect but she is so determined to save Minne even at the possible cost of her own life. Alex is our deuteragonist, and while he and Fie aren't exactly close at first they genuinely become really great friends over the course of the story as Alex always has her back and desperately wants to help her save Minne, even if he doesn't fully understand Whitehaven. There's also several other colorful characters outside from Fie and Alex, such as Fie's spirited cat Kiwi, an witch with questionable motives and a human-bear shapeshifter. There's of course also Minne, and Lux the magical fox (who is the one who provides the northern lights), but they're generally more so there to be rescued than actual rounded characters. Not that that's a flaw, though. This book isn't about them, rather it's about the journey to rescuing them and the importance of the love these characters share for one another.
The fantasy world of Whitehaven was also just a fun concept. At first you think that Fie really might just be having a hard time processing Minne's coma, and is therefore trying to shove it under "there's a spell upon her from Whitehaven". But wouldn't you know it: Whitehaven is actually real, a real yet to others secret realm created by the twins which they can travel to if they so chose. Which is quite a fun concept. It's basically an isekai, but only really Minne and Fie can enter Whitehaven, and those who they choose to bring with them.
Current-day Whitehaven is also not pleasant and fun like when they were younger, it's darker and dour and there's evil creatures roaming about. Turns out that the key to saving Minne is also the key to saving the world, for Lux the fox has equally been imprisoned, causing the darkness to spread without his northern lights protecting Whitehaven. Just an interesting world and concept to explore! Also, I won't spoil who the final villain is (because it is a twist), but it was a pretty cool revelation and the final battle against them was equally cool.
I also found De Vadder's writing voice to be very pleasant. The book reads away quickly and nicely, but it never went too fast in my opinion. There are scenes where the characters will just stop to talk about things and their feelings, which was nice. So a fast-paced book, but not too fast. Actually, the pace is one of the things that really kept me going. It just kind of gave me the impression that I was really reading from Fie's point of view (despite the omniscient narrator), because she's so steadfast and determined to get things going to save her sister at a quick pace. So neat way to tie the author's writing voice back to our main character's mentality.
If I do have a minor critique, it's that I'd personally have liked to seen the side of the dark creatures (e.g. witches, trolls, goblins, etc.) in this explored a little more. What's their deal? They're always kept at bay in Whitehaven by Lux the fox, whose tail creates the northern lights which in turn protects the realm from the evil creatures. Which is nice and all, but I couldn't help but feel that there's a story from their side to be told, because they genuinely don't seem to like being banished to stay in the shadows by Lux's light all the time. It just feels a tad too black-and-white for me. Good creatures good, evil creatures bad. I'd have liked to see a little more nuance. However, as a counterargument to my own here, I can also see why things are so black-and-white: Whitehaven as a world was dreamed up by two young children. They probably didn't have the most nuanced gray-morality mentality when creating the world as very young kids, so that's probably why things are divided to easily. I'd just personally have liked just a tad more nuance to the situation.
Still, this has been so far one of my favorite books I've read this year! A quick-paced story about the power of sisterly love, friendship, persistence and imagination.
Rating: 4.5/5
No comments:
Post a Comment