This book was a wonderful young adult read. I would recommend it for everyone who enjoys a magical, adventure story with strange and quirky, believable characters. The settings, from the castle basement to the underground city, and the submarine bookstore, are and added bonuses. A good read, hope it is the first of a series!!

This was a pleasant read for me. It would be better suited for someone around 10-14 years old, but I like a good kids' book every once in a while. The characters were developed well, the writing was easy and flowed nicely, the plot kept be guessing, and overall it was a read that had good plot structure.

I did find it a bit odd of how many murders happened throughout the book (not too graphically), and everyone seemed almost okay with it. Maybe okay isn't the right word, but it didn't seem like a very big deal. However, the perspective of the book was through Evan, and he was being chased down by the police. On top of that his uncle, along with the other citizens of Little Yarnmouth, were abducted, so that could explain why the murders were talked about, but sort of brushed off.

One of my favorite parts of the book would have to be Charles, the giant rat who liked to play catch. Would I want to meet him in real life? Absolutely not! But, I thought it was cute and a nice addition to the story - don't judge someone/something just by their looks.

Another of my favorite aspect of the book is the fact that Evan has a prosthetic leg. It is only mentioned a few times, which I cannot help to think that this might have been intentional. Evan accomplished a lot throughout the novel, even with a prosthetic leg. This can be a great discussion with children about what people are capable of doing, even if they have a physical handicap.

Overall, a great read that I'm sure many preteens would enjoy.