Book of the Month: The Twistrose Key

The Twistrose Key

by Tone Almhjell

Cover Review: Uh, totally awesome? Just take a minute to fully appreciate this cover There's so much detail, it can take you several minutes to absorb everything. And all of it draws your eye back to the title, with an awesome key included. A great cover in my opinion.

The blurb: When a mysterious parcel arrives at her family’s new home, eleven-year-old Lin Rosenquist has a curious feeling she’s meant to discover what’s inside.

Much to Lin’s surprise, the ornate key contained in the parcel unlocks a spellbinding world called Sylver, hidden behind the cellar door. Sylver is an enchanting land of eternal winter, inhabited by animals that shared a special connection with children in the real world, either as beloved pets or tamed wild animals. In death, they are delivered to Sylver, where they take on a curiously human-like form and still watch over the children they cherish. While Lin is overjoyed to be reunited with her beloved pet, Rufus, she soon learns that the magic of the Petlings and Wilders is failing, and snow trolls want to claim Sylver for themselves. Lin must discover a way to stop them and save this enchanted world.

My Thoughts

This book quickly became one of my favorites as soon as I read it. Let's start with the plot. It is a classic quest plot, where the hero is taken into a new world an can't get back until they find someone or do something. The author did a great job of using this plot and making it special. I thought the plot twists were especially well done.

Lin is a great character. She's a girl with a great imagination and strong as well as flawed. I love her spirit. She's one of the few humans in Sylver adding a fish out of water feel. Rufus is one of my favorites of all the animals. The author gave him a lot of personality using his animal body. Nose twitches, tail movements, that sort of thing.

And the world. When I read the blurb, I was a bit wary. I thought it might be that whole animal heaven sort of thing. But it's really more of a second life for these animals. In all, the world reminds me a little of Narnia. But it's also completely original.

Plus, it has a great map and cute ink drawings. She even includes the music for an important song in the story. I love it when authors have lots of fun stuff.

The map

My rating:

I would recommend this book for fans of Narnia and other fantasy with talking animals and a bit of magic. It would be a great read aloud for kids too.

Have you read The Twistrose Key? Do you like books about animals? Let me know in the comments.