This is a delightful, middle grade book about Sibyl, the apprentice witch at the Grand Mirror Hotel. Her big problem is that her grandmother does not feel Sibyl is ready yet for any major spells so she spends her days using her magic to polish shoes and clean mirrors. However problems occur when Grandma inadvertently disappears into last Tuesday and a Shadowmancer begins making its presence felt in the hotel. Sibyl does not know enough magic to solve the problem - or does she?

I enjoyed this book nearly as much as my eleven year old self would have loved it years ago! The characters are whimsical and include a talking cat. Sibyl is well meaning but makes some delightful mistakes one of which leads to eclairs and profiteroles floating around the hotel. Yum! Nothing terrible really happens but there is a constant feeling it may - certainly enough to keep a young reader on the edge of their seat.

A great book to give to a middle grader who enjoys magic and witches.

All Sibyl wants to do is learn spells from The Book of Advanced and Dangerous Magic, but Grandma won’t let her. She’s locked the book up tight, in a lockflower pattern, and refuses to let Sibyl look inside. She says Sibyl isn’t ready yet. But Sibyl is ready, if only she could concentrate long enough to prove it.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time reading this book. It is whimsical, and sweet with just a hint of danger and darkness at its core. We follow our main character, Sibyl, who lives in a fantastical alternate Europe where magic is commonplace and witches work as hotel witches, polishing shoes, finding lost items, and generally keeping things running.

I loved the main character, Sibyl. I thought she was wonderfully written, a precocious 11 year old who I found to be thoroughly believable. I really enjoyed the magic system, I found it different and interesting.

This is a middle grade book, aimed at 8-12 year olds, and I think it hits the plot points, story arcs and character beats perfectly for a middle grade child. I can see many children in this age bracket thoroughly enjoying this book, and coming back to it time and again as a favourite.

I gave this book a 4 star rating because it was aimed at a younger audience, and as such some of the intrigue of the story, and the reveals throughout were obvious to me, which meant that I could not give it a 5 star rating. However, this book was not written for me, and I do think the intrigue of the story will hit perfectly for those for whom it was written.

I highly recommend this book as a fun, whimsical read, and if you are a parent of the target age group, I would highly recommend this book as a great read for your children.