This story was magic. Pure magic. The melodic and artful way it was written made the story come alive off the page. The characters were vibrant, the descriptions were vivid, and it made my imagination come alive. I wish this was an animated series or a game, I’d love nothing more than to be able to see it all play out in front of me. Everything came together at the end and wrapped up in such a way that there’s plenty of room for the author to continue for many books to come. The only faults I can find are the chapter lengths and the odd melding of real language/names with the fantasy. The chapters were entirely too long and it made the book itself feel too long. The Norwegian language spoken by one of the characters clashes with the Irish namesake of the main character. It felt like the author was pulling from too many real sources but pretending it was not to make it part of the story so I struggled with that. But overall this is an absolutely beautiful tale and I’m thrilled Netgalley gave me the chance to read it.

Its cover immediately attracted my attention. Dark atmosphere with Pan's Labrynth vibes.

Children (almost without adults) live in a town and vigilantly keep guard against a strange fog by strategically estabilished windmills. Anyone who stupid enough to go out is taken by vast, devouring creatures called fog phantoms. Eerie voices and cloudy shapes try to lure the youngs away from their posts, so they use bells to keep their attention focussed. Bells and lanterns filled with fireflies also help them to find each other in the dark. The fog fades away from children but snatches the grown-ups. And, at some point, everyone grows up...

The main character is Ogma, a brave and responsible girl, who started a rescue after a scream, and found a severely wounded boy speaking in Norwegian (I enjoyed decyphering his sentences). Then, soon after he healed up, something came from the fog, and Ogma gets lost in the wilderness...

T. H. Lehnen's prose is glamourous, part like a heartfelt folktale featuring adorable children, enchanting adventures, and mysterious dreams - and part dark fantasy with frightening monsters, mercyless attacks, bloody wounds and killings. He has a good sense for making the scenes vivid and impactful, portraying the dynamics easy to understand, yet fluid enough not to seem simplistic. During the suspense I often heard the intensifying epic music in my head. I like stories in which experiences of hearing, smelling, touching are just as important as seeing; it greatly enhances immersion. Representation of thoughts and feelings organically blends into the text, allowing the story to flow smoothly without abrupt perspective shifts.

I loved how the story unfolded from a fantasy children camp to an exciting adventure with darker tone, impressive creatures, life-or-death-level pledges, and perhaps more in later books.

It is not so long, and the description is right: there is a noticable similarity with the art of Hayao Miyazaki. So I recommend it those who like that style.

Thanks to the author and Netgalley, I read an advanced reading copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

I just wanted to start out by saying this books as a wonderful idea. Reading the summary, I thought this book was going to be amazing. The idea intrigued me and I was dying to read it.

Now, I am a harsh rater. The beginning of the book didn’t really grab ahold of me. It took some time to get myself to like the characters and get a feel for what’s going on. You have this fog with voices and bells, and that’s all I really got from the beginning. It didn’t really feel like it was going anywhere till about 35% of the book. That’s when it kind of reached out to me.

I liked the idea about growing up and how the adults couldn’t do much and it relied on the children. It gave a slight ‘Spirited Away’ vibes.

When Ogma got lost in the woods and was trying to fight her way back, that’s when the book was getting good. It actually made you feel like you were in Ogma’s situation and you felt what she felt.

Overall, it’s not a bad book, but not a book I would reread.