The Children by Melissa Albert

“Every child hopes to step through the wardrobe into Narnia, to find another world full of magic and adventure. Guinivere and Ennis, the protagonists of the Ninth City series, penned by Edith Sharpe are two such lucky children. Of course, the real Guinivere (Guin) and Ennis' actual childhood was fraught with tension, neglect and an endless wave of debauchery from the revolving cast of hopeful artists that would visit their isolated Vermont farmhouse in hopes of soaking up their mothers genius. It all ended in a catastrophic fire that only Guin and Ennis survived. Decades later, Guin has published a memoir as a way to try and forgive and forget what happened but it's all threatened when Ennis announces his next art Exhibit, simply entitled Mother. Guin fears that whatever he's planning will expose the very real and horrifying truth and so, she sets out to confront her brother and try to stop whatever he has planned. This was a dark, eerie, unsettling but entertaining read and though the ending was definitely surreal it was still quite the page-turner." 

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Pros: It was definitley an engrossing and entertaining read/I wanted/needed to know what happened and so the pages kept turning. 

Cons: Hank and Guin's constant hot/cold batles were a little hard to follow. I get it, Guin's refusal to open up about her past left Hank feeling excluded but their reactions just seemed a bit over the top/The ending made sense but it was definitely a bit out there, I’m still not sure how I feel about it. 

Full Review: 

It’s been decades since a fire killed Guinivere (Guin) and Ennis Sharpe’s parents and destroyed the house they grew up in, in Vermont. Their mother Edith Sharpe was the author of the wildly successful children’s series, Ninth City. A series where a brother and sister, Ennis and Guinivere travel to a mysterious city similar but different to our own and have all sorts of dangerous and mysterious adventures. 

Guin has recently written a memoir, painting her childhood in a more idyllic light while Ennis seems about to reveal the darker part of their past in his new Exhibit, Mother. Ennis' has had some legal issues following the death of a girl who attended his last Exhibit, Door Museum. Though Guin has tried to contact Ennis, he refuses to see her. They were once inseparable but now, it's radio silence. And with the sudden announcement of his new show, Guin is terrified at what he might reveal. 

Especially since her memoir isn't the entire truth. She's left out key parts. Like the constant neglect, the drunken parties, the various hook-ups and frankly, inappropriate behavior that her parents and their many house guests participated in. It wasn't a good place to be a child. And as the opening of Ennis' show draws closer, Guin finds herself increasingly anxious, overwhelmed and dragged down into memories and nightmares. 

The big reveal was definitely surreal but the ending came together in a pretty solid way. This was definitely an engrossing read, one of those books that I was eager to sit down and dive into. Though the ending was a bit of a head-scratcher, the book as a whole was a solid, steady, eerie and unsettling read. I quite enjoyed it.