Thank you Walker Books for this book in exchange for an honest review
Synopsis:
Malamander is told from the perspective of Herbert Lemon, the Lost-and-Founder of the Grand Nautilus Hotel, who tries to unite objects that have been left at the hotel with their owners. Other characters in the story include Violet Palma, who is lost and needs to be found, and the eponymous Malamander, who controls people’s dreams.
Review:
Malamander is an gripping adventure that feels like it leapt between the middle grade reads and the YA, not overly sure what this new genre is but damn, if it has more books like this then sign me up. Maybe a MA? Middle Adult? Not too sure but I’m starting to jot down names.
Set for adventure, discovery, treachery and friendship, you find yourself dissolving this book in one sitting, unsure of how the twists will play out. Throughout the book you come across creating ideas such as a monkey at a bookstore that predicts what book you should be reading, a library that is colour coded by shelf and a young Herbert Lemon who has the highly important job of being the lost and founder at the seaside hotel. He ensures anything that is lost inside the hotel finds its rightful owners, including a young girl who lost her parents after discovering the mysterious Malamander.
You find yourself glued to the pages as you try to figure out what has happened to the parents that have disappeared and what is mysteriously happening to this small town every now and then.
Taylor’s writing is fantastic, mostly because he knew the right amount of descriptive words to set the scene and story without overly playing it or under selling it. The town in which it set actually gives you a little urge to go out and exploring, with all its wild gadgets, the hobbies of the townspeople and of course the mystery. And that is saying something coming from a person who is a couch potato.
I loved this story, from the cover to the very last page. It was beautiful and bewitching.
Rating: 4.5
Publisher: Walker Books
ISBN: 9781406386288