Review: The Spindlers - Lauren Oliver

Where I got it: Finished copy from publisher for review
Rating: 4.5 stars  
Cover Rating: 4 stars (It's lovely and whimsical.)
Genre: Middle Grade
Publication Date: October 2, 2012
Publisher: HarperCollins
Page Count: 256 p.
Buy it: Book Depository / Amazon
Add it: Goodreads

One day Liza wakes up and her brother isn't her brother. Liza knows that it was the Spindlers that stole his soul. Her parents want to hear none of it though. They tell her to stop telling stories and leave them alone. Liza knows that she's the only one who can save her brother because she seems to be the only one to notice he's gone. Liza grabs a broom (Spindlers hate them) and gets ready to head below. Then she lands on a rat. This rat decides to help Liza find her way to the Spindlers Nest, it can get tricky to find your way in the below. Liza is about to encounter many new sights, some glorious and some completely terrifying. She can't give up though, because her brother need to be saved and it's a job only Liza can do.

Just like with Liesl & Po Lauren Oliver delivered another fantastical middle grade tale. I loved all the puzzles and folklore that she wove in throughout this novel. It was a short book, but the adventure was complete and absorbing.

I loved how as a reader you can never be quite sure whether this is all in Liza's head or not. You are left wondering if she just has a crazy imagination. He rat companion was an interesting touch. I loved the world below with all it's eccentricities. The characters and the world building were just fabulous. Everything was so majestic.

This was a really delightful adventure story and one you should not miss. I think Lauren Oliver just has the best stories in her head and I can not wait to read more of them.

First Line:
"One night when Liza went to bed, Patrick was her chubby, stubby, candy-grubbing and pancake-loving younger brother, who irritated and amused her both, and the next morning, when she woke up, he was not."

Favorite Line:
"The noise made her think of children abandoned in barren places without enough to eat; and open graves; and dark, bleak winter nights when through the thin air came the sounds of cars skidding and crashing of Route 47; and the squeak of a gurney's wheels on a hospital floor."

This is a Middle Grade Monday Post feel free to link your middle grade reviews/news below :) 

(doesn't have to be posted on a Monday)