Review: Unwritten
Title: Unwritten
Author: Tara Gilboy
Genre: Fantasy
Series: none
Blurb
Twelve-year-old Gracie Freeman is living a normal life, but she is haunted by the fact that she is actually a character from a story, an unpublished fairy tale she’s never read. When she was a baby, her parents learned that she was supposed to die in the story, and with the help of a magic book, took her out of the story, and into the outside world, where she could be safe.
But Gracie longs to know what the story says about her. Despite her mother’s warnings, Gracie seeks out the story’s author, setting in motion a chain of events that draws herself, her mother, and other former storybook characters back into the forgotten tale. Inside the story, Gracie struggles to navigate the blurred boundary between who she really is and the surprising things the author wrote about her. As the story moves toward its deadly climax, Gracie realizes she’ll have to face a dark truth and figure out her own fairy tale ending.
What I Liked
The concept of being a storybook character in hiding in the real world is so fun! I laughed out loud at her interaction with her story's author, Gertrude Winters, at the book signing. It was so awkward and weird, but so cute too. Gracie is set up as likable and sweet, so later when she's in the story world and her true nature starts to come out, the reader can still root for her.
What I Would Have Liked To See
A little bit more explanation of how various things worked would have been nice, but that's just me being nosy.
My Favorite!
Cassandra! I agree with Gertrude Winters: villains really are the best. I liked that Cassandra wasn't plotting world domination or anything. She was just a queen who was also uhhhh a bit of a control freak.
TL;DR
Storybook character-in-hiding must travel to the story world to save the author that killed her . . . or did she? A fun adventure for readers in the 8-12 age range!
P.S.
I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley for my honest review. All thoughts are my own!
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