I received a copy from the publishers in return for an independent honest review. What a lovely book, from its enchanting cover to the wonderful world building and characters. This is a middle grade book to be enjoyed by all age groups.
Sylvie, Ivy and her brother become embroiled in strange events when Sylvie is taken to hospital following a nasty fall. There is something mysterious about Grandmas past, infact she cannot remember her early years at all. The two kids get sucked down into a world beneath London through a suitcase. It feels like a modern day retelling of Alice falling down the rabbit hole!. There are a group of people trying to fight evil in this underground world where everyday common objects become uncommon as they are given magical powers. There's an idea that souls live on in our treasured objects to do good.
Such a beautiful story to be immersed in, this is book 1 of this new series and I personally cannot wait to see how this develops. My only criticism is the ending felt like too much cramped in so the book could finish, otherwise it would have been a 5* read for me

I loved the premise and the author made a great attempt at world building, but all of the many characters felt flat to me and the plot was too scattered to fully follow everything that was happening. I had great hopes for this book, but it ultimately failed to gel into something wonderful to me. I might give the sequel a try, as the idea of a world with uncommon objects really holds a lot of potential!

Excellent start to a new children's series that can be read by any age group. I have read a lot of these types of books in the past couple of years. Kids discover their family is magical, there is a magic land, and only they can solve the mystery. But, this book is very well done and I thoroughly enjoyed getting sucked into the world Ms. Bell has built and getting to know the main characters-siblings Seb and Ivy. For the most part the world is easy to comprehend. I had a tough time at the beginning grasping the idea of uncommon goods-but once I got further into the story it didn't seem so odd. The mystery is well developed and leaves room for plenty of follow-up books and the main characters act like they are 11 and 14. I'll be looking out for the rest in this series.

Ivy Sparrow and her big brother, Seb, are worried about their grandmother Sylvie when she has a fall. Their parents are away on business, and it's just the two of them, so when they discover that Grandma Sylvie's home has been ransacked, and a strange, toilet brush-wielding policeman tries to arrest them, they have the feeling that strange things are afoot. They manage to escape, via suitcase - no, not carrying one, IN one - to a secret, underground city called Lundinor, where seemingly everyday objects can hold fantastic powers. They're uncommon, and so are the people with a gift for wielding them. Healing buttons, weaponized drumsticks and yo-yos, almost anything can be uncommon in Lundinor. But Ivy and Seb don't have the luxury of time; an evil force wants something that Grandma Sylvie has, and they're willing to do anything to get it back from them. In trying to figure out what they want, Ivy and Seb will meet new friends and discover things about Grandma Sylvie's past that they never could have imagined.


The Uncommoners is the first in a new middle grade fantasy series by debut author Jennifer Bell. In parts, reminiscent of Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, The Crooked Sixpence is a good beginning with worldbuilding and character creation, but was missing the spark that made this book - for me - truly unputdownable. Ms. Bell is at her best when she brings us her Lundinors: Ethel, the proprieter of a bell shop and Scratch, the bell; Violet, who trades in magical buttons, and Erebus and Cerebus, hellhounds who can be summoned with a specific bell and by yelling, "WALKIES!", stole my heart and made me fall in love with Lundinor, much as I adore Gaiman's London Below. The horrific selkies made for delightfully skin-crawling reading.

This is a promising start to a new fantasy series. Give this to your middle grade fans who enjoy some British wit (Roald Dahl, David Walliams) and fans who enjoy a little magic in their reality.

While this was compared to Harry Potter, I would dare say it was better! The adventure took off right from the get go and sucked you until the very end. Wacky and wonderfully full of fantasy throughout!

Oh dear, I was excited for this one (yay Middle Grade! yay Fantasy! yay cute cover!) and ended up skimming very early on, ultimately DNFing at 68% when I realized I just couldn’t force myself to do it any longer. It’s extremely telling when there are more 1-star reviews on GoodReads than there are 5-star reviews.

I’m honestly finding myself not even caring enough to bother with a review – I didn’t care for these characters, I didn’t care for their predicament (after their grandmother winds up in the hospital, Ivy and her brother Seb discover their family is NOT like others, that they actually hail from a magical underground world), and while the similarities to several other highly popular series didn’t turn me off, they were certainly prevalent – and obvious – enough to where I couldn’t ignore their presence. This book was very much a Middle Grade Neverwhere with its magical London Underground. The Harry Potter inspiration was also LARGELY (yugely?) there and one character in particular distinctly made me think of Dobby anytime they appeared.

Perhaps actual Middle Grade readers might enjoy this one far more, but I couldn’t take it. Strange pacing, answers and rescues that come all too easily, characters I just didn’t care for, it all mingled into a novel that most definitely was not for me.

Ivy and her brother, Seb, find themselves in a magical world after their grandmother is rushed to the hospital. They become involved in a mystery to figure out the connection their grandmother has to this world and soon find themselves trying to save their parents. In this magical world, uncommon objects have unusual magical qualities. This book is quite a fantasy. Some parts are a bit dark, but there is lots of adventure.