There's one thing I love as much as fairy tales and fairy tale retellings: books that have completely unique plots that are told with a fairy tale voice. That fantastical tone where magical things can happen and they're just matter-of-fact, because of course these wondrous plots are just seen as normal in a fairy tale world. The writing in Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes is amazing and beautiful, so I definitely want to read more by this author.

That said, the plot of the book does drag a bit in the middle. It seems so very long when it doesn't really need to be, like everything is being over-explained. It draws you out of the story, away from what the characters are going through, and certainly puts a damper on those magical twists and turns when you know how the plot is going to go and it keeps getting put off and off and off.

The characters were a little flimsy, sometimes flipping opinions or allegiances too easily, but for the most part this can be explained away by the fairytale vibe. After all, characters in those stories are really more caricatures used to teach lessons--as happens in Peter Nimble.

One thing I absolutely loved about the book was that it was an adventure story, about friendship and found family and accepting yourself. It was also great to see a story where the main character is blind and that isn't the entirety of the plot. The other characters don't feel sorry for Peter because he's blind; he doesn't feel sorry for himself, either. I love that we're shown how strong, cunning, and capable he is and his blindness is almost an afterthought. It certainly doesn't stop Peter from trying to save the day.

So this is a book that I'm torn on. It's an important book, and fun at times, but the pacing left a lot to be deserved and definitely detracts from the entertainment of it.