The Open Book Club discussion

Once you have read the book, please let us know what you thought of it!

THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS SO DON'T READ UNTIL YOU HAVE READ THE BOOK...

I gave the book 3/5 stars.

I can honestly say this is a beautiful book, with amazing meaning behind all the imaginative metaphors.

I LOVED the prologue of this book very much! But then it just went downhill from there, mostly because it was a little confusing and too much magic that came out of nowhere; which made the story not flow together well.

I will say the characters is what made me keep wanting to read this book. They were very well written. I loved the "Ocean" and the metaphor behind it.

BUT too much WEIRD magic!

The ending was pretty good, but still a little confusing.

SPOILER ALERT: I think the Hempstocks (Old, Ginnie, and Lettie) were one person showing 3 different stages in life. I also think the Ocean represents a place where the narrator was able to mediate on memories, trauma, and life. Every time something bad happened he always came back to the "ocean".

What do you think about the book/ending?

I gave this book 4/5 stars for creativity lol.

This book did keep me pretty captivated. It was spooky too, and I got to read some of it during a thunderstorm which made it even more spookier.

The story did seem to kinna bounce around or something. The part where Ursula Monkton shows up reminded me of Neil Gaiman's Coraline book a little bit. I was thinking, it's just sort of the same type of story.

I also thought too, that Old Mrs. Hempstock, Ginnie and Lettie were one in the same too. Lol! I also wonder if the kitten "Ocean" too wasn't part of them as well. Kinna freaky! I'm not sure what I thought about the ending. I felt like things weren't closed or something. I don't feel satisfied with it. I don't think it was my kind of story, but it was interesting to read something a lil bit different, and I agree that it was written quite beautifully. I couldn't really predict what was gonna happen, so that is a plus too!

Had either of you read Fragile Things beforehand?

I haven't read that one.

This was a very strange read but also very compelling!!! I thoroughly enjoyed it!!! I gave it 5 stars!!!

I gave this book 5/5
I have put this one on my read again shelf.
Loved the story line.
I agree with Brooke, Old, Ginnie and Lettie were the same person.
The story reminds us to keep a little bit of our childhood present in our current age and time.

I loved this book. It's so delicate and magical, yet very powerful in it's own unique way. It captured childhood wonderfully. A small, beautiful gem. 5 stars from me.