I was given this book through NetGalley when I was a contest judge.
I wasn't supposed to share about my involvement with the book at that time, and alas I forgot to give feedback on the NetGalley shelf. Here is the record I can find of what I shared externally: "This book was so well-written. Seldom has a book come this close to bringing me to tears."

Beautifully written; a visual feast that had me wanting more. A boy visits his grandmother during WWII and discovers something magical in the forest behind her house.

This is an absorbing tale, unusual in that all the characters were only known by their initials, but this allows us to imagine that anyone could fill their shoes including ourselves as the reader. The author does an excellent job reflecting the thin veil between the natural and supernatural worlds and allows us as readers to dream and fantasise. It was so enjoyable to escape my world when reading this story.

The story also provides a good exploration of grace but in a non-preachy perspective.

I'm not a great reader of fantasy but I could read this type of style of all day everyday. If you get a chance read this novel as you won't be disappointed.

I'm unable to provide a review at this time. Unfortunately, I DNFed this book in the first 16%. It just didn't grab my attention. I apologize for any inconvenience.

Solid 3.5 stars

I have a lot of mixed feelings about this book. I enjoyed it for the most part, but I did find the book slow going in many parts until about halfway through. However, I found the monsters very intriguing as well as the “real” story of Cinderella. Talk about a different take on a classic story!

The mystery surrounding the monsters was extremely fascinating and was definitely my favorite part. It really had me intrigued as well as the soldier’s songs and kept me turning pages. The last quarter of the book really had me on the edge of my seat followed by almost crying. I didn’t expect certain events to unfold as they did, which left me feeling just as sad as the main character.

Overall, a good story that had a very intriguing mystery leaving you cheering for a young hero to solve it with the help of his grandmother and fellow friends.

With apologies to the publisher, I will not be writing a full review for A Green and Ancient Light because I did not finish this book. Unfortunately, the style of the novel is just not to my tastes, which I suppose I should have realized the moment I saw the blurb likening it to Pan's Labyrinth. I've never done well with that kind of abstractness, and I also found the narrative to be very slow. At this time, I find myself enjoying the glimpses I've gotten into the story's fantastical elements, but for the most part it is taking too long to hook me.

If I do happen to finish this book at a future date, I will be sure to update this review. For now though, I'm afraid I'll have to mark this one down as DNF. Thank you for the opportunity!