This book has a very classic literature feel along the lines of the A Wrinkle in Time series. Reading it was a little slow going but I think this book was just aimed a bit younger than I expected. I will definitely pass it along to some elementary school teachers as the themes of remembering precious moments and people are very important. The plot was also a bit loose and confusing for me.

This book has a high-concept hook: “characters native to a novel finally get a reader after a years without one, and the princess of the story finds herself able to travel into the reader’s dreams.” That, in itself, would probably be worth the price of admission, tackling the oft-tread ‘world within a book’ idea using totally unique worldbuilding that manages to also be unintrusive (not to mention the equally interesting exploration of the world of the human mind).

However, this isn’t just an adventure in a high-concept pair of settings. It is also a remarkably melancholy (especially in its middle section) tale regarding the transient nature of human memory and of works of the imagination. The characters from the book are apparently not distinct from people who have died or beings born from dreams, and all are subject to the same forces within the human memory.

However, it isn’t just a high-concept setting with a profound and melancholy theme, it’s also a very well-plotted journey narrative as Princess Sylvie makes her way across realms, witnessing a tender multigenerational drama (sometimes without understanding what she sees) as she does so.

The Great Good Thing is a wonderful work that can appeal to many ages and many perspectives. It deserves to be republished as many times as possible.