This book has magic, adventure, lesson to learn, family and friends. I thoroughly enjoyed this book from beginning to end. Poppy (Penelope) loves books and all the wonderful things they bring into our lives. she even loves to dress up like different characters of the books she loves.
When her family moves to a new area so her parents can renovate an old manor Poppy goes exploring. She knew old manor's contained magic, just like in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis. What she didn't expect was when she actually found said magic it would change her and her world in ways very unexpected. She would have to learn how to use her voice.
This is a beautiful book and I would highly recommend it to anyone.

You know those books that change you. The books that you read and reread over and over again, because they speak to you? What if that book disappeared, forever, and never was?

That is the premise of this book, The Lion of Lark-Hayes Manor. What if a book has changed you, gave you thoughts you had never had before, influenced you to be who you are, what if they were not only taken away, but vanished from exisitance. What if the one book that made you change, or grow, or think, vanished from the planet, and no one remembered them, or how it changed you.

Poppy’s family has come to the Lark-Hayes Manor to restore it to its former glory. It has fallen into disrepair. And though Poppy is not supposed to explore the building, she does, and saves a water nymph, who grants her one wish. Her wish is to have a magical, flying lion. And the price? Only a book, or so Poppy thinks. One book. But no, it is all books. All her favorite books. All her family’s favorite books. Gone from her family, and gone from the world.

And all she has to do to get them back, is give back the flying lion.

And thus the quandary.

The voices of this book are so real. The parents not perfect. The bullies just as bad as bullies are. The story surprises me at each turn. I could nto guess where it was going, or what would happen, or what books would be taken away, and what each one meant to the person that made them special. The journal that Poppy’s mother had from her mother, who dies when she was young, taught her all the old family recipes. When that is swallowed up, the food that made anywhere they went home, was gone, along with her mother’s imagination.

This is a ten star book. All the feelings, all the angst. All the love. I can’t recommend this any more highly than to say you need this book. If you love magical middle-grade stories, if you love flawed, as we all are, heroines. If you love books, you will love this book.

<em>Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.</em>

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for letting me review this book. This was a good read and I devoured it in a few days! Poppy makes a Faustian bargain that she soon comes to regret. She learns that magic comes with a cost. She knows that books can take you anywhere and lets you forget your worries for a bit. I’m not sure if there’ll be a sequel but I do hope there is.

Poppy is always the new kid who loves magic and books. Her parents are professional historical restorationists Coming to Lark-Hayes Manor is Poppy’s mom’s dream job.
Poppy is determined to prove magic is real. While exploring the Manor, Poppy finds a pond that has taken over a room in the house and comes face to face with magic from the Old World.. Determined to prove magic is real, she asks for a flying lion never realizing the price she will have to pay.
The characters are strong and likable. The plot moves along at a smooth pace.
A book about books is always a win for me.
The idea of how the books we have read influence who we become is novel.

This story is a delightful fantasy about a book lover who makes a proverbial "deal with the devil" and learns the eternal lesson that such deals are always a trick. I love the author's voice and felt Poppy's struggles to try to correct her horrible mistake. Of course, any book lover will enjoy the inevitable changes in the world that come from her rotten agreement.

After reading it, I appreciate the cover even more. Well done!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to review this book.