This book was truly, truly amazing!

In a sense, I'm glad that I spent so much time reading this book (if only to better appreciate what I read). With elements such as ghosts, the Wild Hunt, and ancient spirits, the story of Jenny Gluckstein and Tamsin was a real adventure to follow, whether it was fictional or not.

For those who enjoyed reading The Last Unicorn and are looking for something else to read by Peter Beagle, this book is an excellent choice. In my opinion, this book is a must-read!

It offers a unique and captivating world that draws the reader in from the very beginning. The characters are well-developed and the plot is full of twists and turns that keep you on the edge of your seat. Overall, it's a wonderful book that I would highly recommend to anyone who loves fantasy and adventure.

I absolutely adore this book.

It is truly a captivating piece of literature that combines elements of intrigue and mystery in the most enchanting way.

Yet, despite its complex and engaging plot, it also manages to maintain a sense of simplicity that makes it accessible and enjoyable for readers of all ages.

The beauty of this book lies not only in its words but also in the vivid images and emotions it evokes within the reader's mind.

If ever there was a book that I would desperately want to see recreated into a beautiful British independent film, this would undoubtedly be it.

The unique atmosphere and charm of the story would translate perfectly onto the big screen, allowing a whole new audience to experience its magic.

I can just imagine the stunning cinematography, the talented actors bringing the characters to life, and the hauntingly beautiful score that would enhance every moment of the film.

It would be a cinematic masterpiece that would leave a lasting impression on all who saw it.

Mr. Beagle is truly a remarkable storyteller.

His latest offering is not only a captivating ghost story but also a thrilling mystery. He masterfully weaves in numerous folklore characters and integrates some real historic events and people, which adds a rich and engaging layer to the narrative.

The story is told in the first person, a choice that I believe is ideal for this particular tale. However, I must admit that I didn't entirely enjoy the voice of this specific narrator. It seems as if Mr. Beagle might not have interacted with any teenagers since the 70s.

Surprisingly, it's quite difficult to believe that this story was written in 1999. There are several anachronisms that stand out. For instance, at one point, the narrator gives the example of a record with the needle getting stuck in a scratch. But a 13-year-old in 1993? That seems rather unlikely. Another time, she and her friend sing all of "My Fair Lady." In that era, shouldn't they be more inclined to sing something like "Rent" or "The Phantom of the Opera"? Additionally, I have my doubts as to whether Mr. Beagle has ever had any experience working on a farm or in a garden. Spreading fertilizer by hand? These are just minor quibbles, I'm aware, and they didn't truly take away from the overall story. However, they did manage to cause some distractions along the way.

The New-York-City-girl-meets-English-countryside-fantasy narration was indeed offbeat, and initially, it had a certain charm that made it work.

However, as the story progressed, it unfortunately took a turn for the worse. The plot devolved into mostly meandering and pointless narration, to the extent that there seemed to be hardly any real plot at all.

By the time I was halfway through the book and literally almost nothing of significance had happened, I made the decision that it wasn't worth continuing to read.

Yet, my curiosity still lingered, so I skimmed through to the end. It became evident that things didn't truly pick up until the story was on the verge of ending, within the last 20 pages.

In hindsight, I don't regret my decision to stop reading. The lackluster plot and slow pacing made it a less than enjoyable experience overall.

Perhaps if the story had been more engaging and had developed its plot more effectively from the beginning, it could have been a more satisfying read. But as it stands, it failed to hold my attention and left me feeling disappointed.

OK, I must admit that I feel a bit reluctant to give this book a 3-star review. However, I just can't bring myself to rate it any higher. I would say that those 3 stars are solely a result of how captivating Beagle is as a writer. I almost gave up on this book several times, but I persisted because I was intrigued by what was going to happen and I was engaged with the story.

Nevertheless, it took an extremely long time for anything significant to occur. I bet I would have preferred this to be a Wendle Berry-esque cozy farm novel rather than this pseudo-ghost story. The ghost story aspect was interesting, but it just didn't seem to be going anywhere.

When the revelations finally started to unfold, it was so late in the book that there wasn't sufficient space to fully develop them. As a result, it ended up feeling unpleasantly abrupt.

Man, it really sounds like I detested this book, but that's not the case at all. It just seems that Beagle set out to write a cool ghost story but got sidetracked along the way by penning a truly lovely countryside family drama. And unfortunately, it ended up falling a little short in both respects.

Imperfect and lovely.

We often strive for perfection in our lives, believing that it is the key to happiness and success. However, the truth is that imperfection is what makes us truly lovely.

Every flaw, every mistake, and every imperfection is a part of who we are. It is these unique qualities that set us apart from others and make us special.

Rather than trying to hide our imperfections, we should embrace them and celebrate them. We should learn to love ourselves for who we are, flaws and all.

When we do this, we open ourselves up to a world of possibilities. We are no longer limited by our fear of being imperfect, but instead, we are free to be our true selves and pursue our dreams with passion and enthusiasm.

So, the next time you look in the mirror and see an imperfection, don't be ashamed or disappointed. Instead, smile and say to yourself, "I am imperfect and lovely, and that's okay."

Because in the end, it is our imperfections that make us beautiful.

I remember being an adolescent girl. That seems normal enough, because I was one for several years. It's a bit scarier that Peter Beagle seems to remember being an adolescent girl.

Jenny Gluckstein is thirteen years old and lives with her divorced mother, a music teacher in New York. She also visits her father, an opera singer, regularly. She's a bit of a misfit at school, like most adolescents, but she has two friends she spends a lot of time with and a cat named Mister Cat.

Then her mother announces she's marrying her boyfriend, Evan McHugh, and they're moving to England with him. Jenny will have to leave her friends and her life behind, and Mister Cat will spend six months in quarantine. However, her new stepbrothers, Tony and Julian, aren't too bad. Also, at least she'll be living in London, which she thinks she'll like.

But then Evan gets a new job managing a farm in Dorset, and the house they'll be living in is barely habitable. Jenny is really difficult through all this, and she knows it, and it's mostly on purpose. Eventually, she meets a girl at school, Meena Chari, whose efforts at friendship she can't resist. After six months, she gets Mister Cat back, and things start to get a little better.

The house is haunted, of course. There are many hints, and finally Mister Cat brings Jenny proof in the form of his new girlfriend, a ghost Persian. After some time, Jenny meets the Persian's owner, Tamsin Willoughby, the daughter of Roger Willoughby, the founder of Stourhead Farm.

Tamsin has been dead for three hundred years, having died around the time of the Bloody Assizes in 1685. She needs to move on, but there's something she needs to do first, and she can't remember what it is. It begins to seem that perhaps she doesn't really want to remember. Jenny gradually realizes that, as much as she wants Tamsin to stay, her continued presence is causing strange problems around Stourhead, and things need to be fixed. Over the next couple of years, she meets a Pooka, the billy-blind, the Black Dog, the Old Lady of the Elder Tree, and other unusual beings, along with one of the most terrifying ghosts she's ever encountered. Oh, and the Wild Hunt too.

It's a very good book, even if in some ways the most peculiar part of it is being so convincingly back inside her own adolescent head again.

I absolutely loved it.

It is a truly great coming of age story that takes the reader on a journey of self-discovery and growth.

The addition of a wonderful ghost story element adds an extra layer of mystery and excitement, making it a truly captivating read.

From start to finish, it is a lovely read that keeps you engaged and interested.

The characters are well-developed and the plot is full of twists and turns that keep you on the edge of your seat.

Overall, it is a very satisfying book that I would highly recommend to anyone looking for a great read.

Whether you are a fan of coming of age stories or ghost stories, or just looking for a good book to pass the time, this one is definitely worth checking out.

You won't be disappointed.

I have no clear idea about how to feel regarding this book.

It was extremely affecting, having a profound impact on me. It was entirely different from anything I have ever read before, presenting a unique and distinct quality.

Yet, at the same time, it had a slight resemblance to many other things I have read in the past, which made it somewhat familiar.

Moreover, it was simultaneously very real, as if it was depicting actual events and emotions, and completely unreal, as if it belonged to a different world or realm.

I find myself in a state of confusion and contemplation. I'm going to take some time to think about it carefully, trying to sort out my thoughts and feelings.

Maybe with more reflection, I will be able to understand this book better and determine how I truly feel about it.

Ohhhh this was *truly wonderful*. It is one of the most enchanting ghost stories I have ever had the pleasure of reading. The way it seamlessly mingled British folklore with the supernatural was simply magical.

I absolutely LOVED the voice of the story. I am extremely impressed that Peter Beagle managed to capture the voice of the heroine so perfectly. Both the nineteen-year-old voice as she narrated the tale and the 13-year-old voice of her younger self in the dialogue as the events were unfolding were spot-on. The book was gorgeously immersive, deeply romantic, and when I reached the end, I let out a happy, good-book sigh and re-read the last paragraph several times because it was so satisfying.

To be honest, I had two very minor quibbles. I thought the voice of the heroine's older stepbrother was a bit too formal and old-school for a British teenager in 1999. Also, there was a line in the middle of the book about how in England, people just take the Wild Hunt for granted. I thought to myself: "Hahaha NO. Only in American fantasies." (Remember, this book was published in 1999. While some old customs may still linger in small pockets of the country, that is definitely not the norm in the UK nowadays.) However, these two quibbles only occurred to me well after I had already fallen in love with the book. I loved everything else so much that they couldn't spoil my enjoyment at all. The good parts far outweighed those tiny quibbles. And apart from those two minor points, Peter Beagle did a truly beautiful job with the British setting and the voices of the British characters. The magic in the book was just wonderful.

This story felt a lot like a YA version of a Susanna Kearsley novel, with the added element of folk magic on top of the supernatural/historical aspect.

But mostly, it was all about Jenny's voice! And Tamsin, the ghost. And so much more!

I adored it.

Hm. I truly wonder if this book had any influence on Robin McKinley's Dragonhaven at all.

For at least the first hundred pages, the writing is so replete with what I would call "teen posturing language" (please forgive me, teens - I simply couldn't conceive of a better way to describe it), that it is nearly unendurable. In fact, no, I take that back. It is truly unbearable. I resorted to skimming and skipping, hoping against hope that the book would eventually become readable. After all, I had read Peter Beagle before and I didn't recall him being this awful.

Thankfully, when the title character finally makes an entrance around page 100, the story and the writing do start to improve somewhat. Now, the writer appears to be more focused on

Telling the story

rather than

Interrupting the story every other line with some inane posturing comment that gets repeated in various forms three times before attempting to return to some semblance of the story.

However, the ending of the book tries to take three steps too far. ("And now that the story is over, let's just casually leap forward five or so years where I'm suddenly attending Cambridge and so forth...") It rather undermines the climax of the book, which is very rushed.

As for the story itself: it's just okay. I predicted far too much of it for it to be suspenseful. And it's definitely loose and unsteady with all the filler nonsense about being a young teen. (A small caveat: some reviewers have noted that it's remarkable how well Beagle writes from the perspective of a 13-year-old girl. BUT! The whole story is supposed to have been written retrospectively. Indeed, it's supposed to have been written when the main character is 19 or so.)

Do I recommend it? Not really. Will I read it again? Nope. Was it a complete waste of time? Well, it had moments where it was more than a complete waste of time, but it also had other moments where it was interesting.

This book is truly too precious and terrifying for me.

It holds within its pages a wealth of knowledge and secrets that seem almost too great to bear. The words seem to leap off the page, demanding my attention and challenging my understanding.

Every time I open this book, I am filled with a sense of awe and trepidation. I know that what I am about to discover could change my life forever, and yet I cannot resist the pull of its mysterious allure.

It is as if this book is a living, breathing entity, with a power all its own. It haunts my dreams and invades my thoughts, leaving me with no choice but to face its precious and terrifying truth.