Won this recently and gave it to my granddaughter to read and then asked her to do a a review:-
The Twistrose key.
This book is about a girl whose pet vole Rufus dies; so she spends many hours by the rosebush where he is buried. She loves to play troll hunting games and calls herself Twistrose. One day a parcel arrives for her by the name of Twistrose; it contains two keys one for the cellar and one fit into a crack in the wall of the cellar. She opens a door to another world, she meets Rufus and realises it is the home for all dead animals who ever loved a child. She is set a task to find the missing winterfryst boy Isvan. If she completes the task she will get a statue in her name but if she fails she will not be able to return home...
The characters in the story are well described and you feel like you know them. Lin and her pet Rufus also meet lots of other animals that are mostly kind but a couple who they steer well away from. Lin is just like anyone of the age group, but the animals can talk and grow a bit and stand on their hind legs like humans. It also vividly sets the scene and all the senses, for example: sight and smell.
This book is mainly for children aged 10-12 but it does get confusing and easy to lose the plot. The main theme is about children and their pets when the pets die as it talks about the pets themselves missing the children.
The story is written well and it is easy enough to follow with the occasional paragraph that is a bit slow. It is a long book and the ending is brilliant, and I am hoping she writes more for me to read!
I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys an adventure and long reads at once.
By Hannah Morris age 11.
