As you may have noticed recently I’ve bemoaned the fact that I couldn’t settle down to read anything and I was finding it more and more frustrating as it went on, I eventually thought ‘why not go back to the fun of middle grade?’

The first pick on the top of a very large pile was this book ‘Otherland’ by Louie Stowell.

It turned out to be the perfect choice!

A fantasy adventure riffing off themes of the fey. Using Spenser’s Gloriana as the Fairy Queen, and Shakespeare’s Mab as their fairy godmother, there was definitely a Midsummer Night’s Dream feel to some of this, and it really worked.

Full of adventure, peril, twists, and ultimately about friendship and family.

We have Myra and Rohan, who couldn’t be more different from each other, working together to overcome the challenges that, Gloriana, has set them to retrieve Shilpa, Rohan’s kidnapped sister.

Along the way they meet various other fairies, gods, and monsters, all of whom want to either help or hinder the duo.

Loved Tony, brilliant character in a cave of wonders.

A world I would love to visit again, well apart from possibly meeting the faceless face-eaters.