My Key is a story about a little girl who when told she can't go to the library that day, imagines a magic ball that takes her on a sea journey to the library which is locked but she is able to transform herself into the key. She has many fantastical adventures in the library, but it isn't always clear what is happening from the illustrations. At the end of the story, she is back on her stoop with a pile of books, so did she get to go to the library? Or didn't she? Let your imagination decide! The illustrations are beautiful and very detailed but don't always feel completely synched with the text.

Thank you NetGalley and Clavis Publishing for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and not affiliated with any brand.

The thing I enjoyed most about this ARC was the imagination. I enjoyed how Amal was able to convey imagination into the story. How one bored little girl could find endless entertainment by just using her imagination. The thing i didn’t like about the book was it felt a little disjointed and hard to follow. Admittedly that might have been a formatting issue with my e-reader rather than the story. The formatting seemed a little out of whack. Overall Amal has written a beautiful story that was enjoyable to read.

Lauded by this publishing house for some time, this award-winner is quite the dreamlike fantasia. A girl who dreams of going to impossible places finds a stick-and-ball set on her stoop, and lo and behold is thrust (how?! the visuals never convey the crossing-over at all well...) into a battle of sea monsters. Calmly recovered from that, she finds herself at the library doors, which of course would be an ideal way for her to take herself to impossible places. Were it not for the elephants...

Like I say, this has a dreamscape illogicality throughout, which might be alright if the art could convey the transitions between 'chapters'. It can't, although it seems more than capable of doing everything else, and in really finely-detailed fashion, too. Indeed, when the book takes advantage of its landscape format and gives us a double-page spread it sells the fantasy a hundred per cent, but the choppiness of the story really makes everything feel too 'off'. As a result, I'd suggest this is for poring over, from the library of course, but not for an instant purchase.

The art is a little dark and the story for children seems a little dark for kids. However, the artstyle is different and unique.

And yes, the book focuses much on reading and books.

Thank you, author and artist, for the advance reading copy.