Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!
3-stars

This book was nothing special for me personally, but I still think it's a good book. It tackles growing up and grief, and it invites readers to remember that the people around them are humans with their own pasts. I think the writing style just didn't really vibe with me. It's a sorta literary style but for children. It's solid and is definitely intentional with its style. It is very loosey goosey with its sci-fi elements, if one could even call it that. It gives it a sort of explanation, but still feels closer to a type of magic. Either way, it's a very soft system, and it's not something you'd want to think too hard on. Bits of the plot were predictable, especially identities, but it's not like this book was looking to shock you. It just wanted to have you follow along on Cate's journey of better understanding the world around her.

If any of what's been said appeals to you, I definitely recommend it!

Cate lives with her father in a comfortable home watching kung fu movies, caring for her rabbit and going out to take photos in unusual locations. Her Mum died when she was born so she doesn't even have memories to sustain her in her grief. Her Dad is emotionally absent so Cate has become self sufficient.

One day this changes, when she meets the mysterious Mrs Kano and starts working in an unusual cinema.

This is a classic time travel novel which deserves to be read more widely. It's what I would think of as being a modern day classic . Cate is a worthy lead character and there is a skill to the writing and translation.
Themes of grief, loss and resilience are sensitively handled., but there are splashes of humour and light and shade, just as you would find in a good film.

Loved this book.

This is the perfect story for fans of cinema, storytelling and a whole host of spookiness! I really enjoyed (and was creeped out) by this. Think there’s a whole host of other stories that can come from this too!

If you would like to ugly cry over the most wonderful time-travel adventure story, Movies Showing Nowhere is the one. I absolutely devoured this one; this is the sort of story to remind you why you began to love reading as a child.

On the day Cate came into the world, her mother left it. Her father has been grieving and almost catatonic since then, and Cate has felt alone most of her life. When a mysterious movie theater opens, she discovers that it offers the opportunity to step into the scene of a favorite memory, or one that you wish you knew more about. Craving adventure and knowledge, Cate is faced with dangerous choices that will challenge all she thought she knew about her life and her parents.

This book was originally written in Dutch as a middle grades story, but it is a magical read for adults as well. Everything about it is so beautifully done and gave me a rush of optimism; highly recommended!

Thank you so much to Pushkin Press and Netgalley for this ARC!

This was a fun one! It kind of reminded me of Hugo Cabret and maybe a touch of the Thief Lord, but with an engaging time travel plotline. Laura Watkinson does a great job translating this one, keeping it fun and interesting for the kiddos. Definitely one to read when the little in my life is just a bit older.

Thank you, Netgalley, for allowing me to read and review this book. These opinions are completely my own.

An interesting novel with time travel to your dad's younger self. It finds a way to deal with huge subjects like grief and self-realization in a way that tweens may find easier to understand/relate to. I would recommend this novel to a child dealing with big emotions, such as losing a loved one.

This was an amazing book about grief and family. The time travel element was really cool! Made me cry at the end. A book that makes me have emotions is a 5 star!! Loved this book.

I was so intrigued by this concept, but really struggled to connect with the book. I'm not entirely sure why, but it felt very uneven - I would be really into the story and the characterizations and the familial relationships, and then there would be page after page after page of what felt like repetitive description that did nothing to move things forward, and it wasn't a good fit for me.

This is a slow-burner but that is just perfect for a story that deals more with emotions than with adventures. It is a story about time-travelling but the focus is not on the adventures but all those hidden feelings in people's hearts. It is a very touching story.

This book was interesting, however, when reading, i wasn’t very fascinated by the book that I thought I would be. It was really interesting and I enjoyed reading it!

A warm-hearted fantasy fable about family, redemption and having second chances at the key times of life – but one whose wonderful tricks with the audience are just rug-pulls when you think about it. Cate is a loner of a girl, not making any friends, hating on the intrusive cleaner woman, scoffing at her porcine rabbit and exasperated at her feckless father, who seems to have made a zombie of himself since his wife/her mother died in childbirth. But a mystery business card is going to shake everything up, when it promises the films showing nowhere of the title. These are snapshots of one's life, and the audience of one can enter the cinema screen itself and snatch a memory back for an hour or two, if they dare. With pesky intruders in her home, a mother she has never had her questions about answered and so much more, Cate might just dare – but not before a lot of other things happen.

And the reading about those things is great fun – it's such an open and friendly, yet concise, style – paring the baggage back but still making full sense. That is, of course, unless you stop and think about things. I was always asking why Cate, if she had researched her mother online so much, never once tried with the woman at the cinema, but obviously she didn't realise it made sense for her character. But you get to the end and, certainly as an adult and not the pre-thirteen intended audience of this, you wonder about a lot of other things.

<spoiler> A lot concerns the character of Tubs, and yes, what happens to him as an adult is obviously shocking, but I don't see how he forgot the lesson to be a better man Cate told him while discussing fathers. I certainly don't see how he could forget the fact she'd admitted to the time travel when they were together. She and he and others in this melange of melancholic encounters have to have a facial blindness that beats even my own inability to recognise people, which is saying something. And even if Cate couldn't find much about the cinema lady online, the name should have registered with the adult Tubs, giving him a clue to things – it's only due to the man's mogadon lifestyle the author can get away with this and more. </spoiler>

At its best this is a Matt Haig book, tricksily playing with things – such as characters, such as readers – in thoroughly affirming, enjoyable ways. But just thinking briefly about things you see through too much of this. It remains a pleasurable read, mind – a <spoiler> time travel story that shows what you can do with the genre when not getting bogged down with all the paradoxes this happily ignores.</spoiler> It's a high-concept endeavour, just not up to the heights needed to get a firm control of the concept. Gripping, without the necessary grip, I didn't dislike it, so three and a half stars is about it.

If you could step into just one memory, which one would you choose?

This story is about time travel, a deceased mother and a defeated father.
I loved the character so much and the premise of this was so original and fun.

Movies Showing Nowhere will challenge readers to think about the important moments in their lives and how these shape the person they have become. It is an incredible fusion of fantasy and reality overflowing with powerful emotions. Her father’s emotional absence forces her to makes sense of life on her own. The resulting anger, fear and sadness shows her just how much she needs an adult’s support. Gradually, the individuals she meets in other people’s memories challenge her to think about life differently and reach out to those she loves.

This book lives in my mind rent free and I js want to reread it immediatly.

Cate deals with grief, and as a person who notices things others do not, she finds a cinema that makes memory travel/revisiting possible.
An astute concept with tender and adventurous moments, revelations and growth.
Great MG read and good novel overall for all readers.

This story was absolutely delightful! The concept of using a screen as a time machine was incredibly creative and engaging. I found myself completely captivated by the plot and the unique approach. I'm genuinely obsessed with how cleverly the entire story was crafted, and it left a lasting impression on me.

A beautifully written book tackling the difficult subjects of loss and grief. Sensitively written , we shed a few tears but gazed in wonder most of the time. A lovely book for sharing and starting difficult conversations.

What a fascinating story! I worried at the start that a translation may loose something and while there are definitely parts I had to reread for clarity, the overall story was delightful.

We begin with Cate and her depressed dad. Her mom died giving birth to Cate and life has been weird. The neighbor cooks and cleans for them and Cate isn’t a fan. She stumbles upon the knowledge of a theater with Movies Showing Nowhere and the story unfolds with time travel and mystery.

Definitely worth checking out!

This is a beautiful story dealing with complex yet universal issues of loss, love, and what memories mean to us.

Cate loses her mother at birth, and this leaves a vacuum in her life that nothing can fill. Least of all what little warmth she gets from her emotionally absent father, who lives in a world of his own.

Perhaps as a result of this, Cate has learned to observe the smallest details in life - things that other people often miss. This gives her something that is lacking from the lives of many others.

That sense of difference is heightened, even as it is validated, when she comes across a flyer advertising Movies Showing Nowhere, through which she meets Mrs Kano, who runs a movie theatre with a difference.

Cate finds some of the answers she is looking for in this one of a kind experience, where you can quite literally revisit memories. But she may also risk losing something very important to her in the process...

This is a moving and meaningful story that will allow younger readers to get to grips with some of the difficult emotions surrounding grief, whilst reinforcing the realisation of what love and family mean to most of us.

Movies Showing Nowhere is a beautiful novel about memory and coming to terms with grief and loss for older primary and younger secondary readers.

Translated from Dutch by Laura Watkinson, Yorick Goldewijk's novel introduces us to Cate whose mother died at the same time she was born. Cate is now thirteen and lives with her emotionally absent father; Cate also resents the efforts of her busybody neighbour Cornelia to look after her. Cate is a child who enjoys 'looking sideways' at the world and notices things that others don't. One day, she sees a flyer from the mysterious Mrs Kano advertising 'Movies Showing Nowhere' at the old cinema in town. When she goes along to investigate, she discovers that Mrs Kano's cinema enables people to step into old memories from the past for a limited period off time by using old photographs and objects. By stepping into other people's memories, Cate develops greater empathy for others but also a greater understanding of her own feelings.

This is a brilliant premise for a middle-grade novel, and Goldewijk includes a number of clever twists that adds to its emotional impact. Thank you to Pushkin Press for continuing to bring us great translated fiction for younger readers, and for sending me an ARC to review via NetGalley.

If you could step into just one memory, which one would you choose?

Movies Showing Nowhere is the most intriguing story of family, loss and identity. Cate is lonely. Her mother died just as Cate was born and her father is, more often than not, lost in his own world. Only her pet rabbit listens to her thoughts and provides comfort.

Cate is skilled at “looking sideways” – not looking at the things that automatically draw your attention, but at what is right beside them instead. As a result, she sees things most people miss. She finds solitude in the “field-that-didn’t-exist” and takes photographs of the tiniest details so often overlooked. But she can’t find the one things she’s always looking for – her mum.

When a card drops through the door advertising a cinema that shows “Movies Showing Nowhere”, Cate can’t resist. Finding her way to the old cinema, she meets Mrs Kano – an unusual woman who gives people the most incredible opportunity. Using a magical movie screen, she allows them to step into a memory. They might speak to a loved one, discover something about themselves or revisit a special event. Mrs Kano offers Cate the chance to work with her and help others step into the past.

Movies Showing Nowhere will challenge readers to think about the important moments in their lives and how these shape the person they have become. It is an incredible fusion of fantasy and reality overflowing with powerful emotions. Cate’s voice and self-awareness slices through the story, similar to Katya Balen’s October, October. Her father’s emotional absence forces her to makes sense of life on her own. The resulting anger, fear and sadness shows her just how much she needs an adult’s support. Gradually, the individuals she meets in other people’s memories challenge her to think about life differently and reach out to those she loves.

This book would be an excellent class read aloud or bedtime story for children age 9+. The complexity of the story would really benefit from on-going discussion as children piece together the layers of meaning. I’m sure a strong independent reader would devour it in a matter of days, wanting to return to Cate’s world as often as they could.

Movies Showing Nowhere is a cleverly crafted book I will continue to think about for a long time. As I read, I found myself trying to work out Cate’s destiny and was still left open-mouthed at the end. Knowing what I know now, I want to go back to the beginning to spot clues and make connections. It is truly outstanding.

This is a fun adventure story about time travel and memories! I really liked the main character and the story felt very immersive. There is a bit of a mystery, tension and heartfelt themes