Yesterday, I finished Horten's Miraculous Mechanisms, by Lissa Evans. A children's book meant to evoke a feeling of adventure, magic and wonderment, I am left with mixed feelings.

Although the cover, I like

 You might have noticed the key word in my previous sentence - "meant." While reading, I felt like I understood exactly what the author was trying to do. It was an admirable goal - to create another magical tome for the impressionable, gooey minds of our children. Unfortunately, it did not quite succeed.

It is definitely not a bad novel, and there were aspects I liked - the colorful characters, the use of setting, the historical information spread throughout. I can just tell that the author did not quite create the magic that she is striving for (not uncommon, of course).

I felt like the novel was enjoyable, and the author gets a lot of child traits correct - you do feel as though the author understands the world of children. It just doesn't quite get above and beyond the obvious and into the magical realm that will make it a "must-read" for children for years to come.

I think the worst thing about this novel, actually, is that it almost gets to that magical peak. A world of promise, a tantalizing glimpse of what it wants to be... Yet these glimpses only lead to slight disappointment because the novel never quite gets there.

An okay, but not a MUST, read.

*This novel was provided by the publisher as a review copy, but all opinions, etc., are my own.