Okay, so I own this book (Thank my dear grade five teacher) (Also the other book option was with my name and a bird? Idk I just chose this one)

I don't remember when I read this, so I just put a random date. The first time I read it, I finished it (obvi), but I was super confused?

A year or so later, I re-read it and understood it better, but every time I try to recall how she got into the readers head, I just get muddled.

Not saying it's a bad book, but I wouldn't re-re read it again. I'm thinking about donating it to my apartment library.

Overall, it wasn't a bad book, but it didn't really give me any surprises or emotion worthy scenes. It was more of a straight face book, although that joker guy kinda got me ticked off.

It was a very original read, and HOLD UP IT'S A TRILOGY!? (I will be reading them, yes. Once you start a series, you must at least try to finish it)

( P.S. No Disrespect to R. Townley)

Sometimes it's the books that are most unexpected that leave the largest mark. The books that have resided in the unremarkable corners of your unread shelf for longer than you can remember. Was it a book from your mother's youth? Or perhaps your sister's? And yet none have recollection of such a novel. So imagine the surprise when a book such as this leaves you with a tear stained face, contemplating the passage of time and the role that storytelling holds in maintaining familial connections, and likewise the role that familial connections hold in upholding stories. I loved this book. It was simple, and yet a wholly fresh idea. I think it would be wonderful for young children, and in fact I wish I had read it in my youth!

This was a wonderful magical story. I have always enjoyed the idea of "what do characters do when no one is looking" and I think this book played with that idea masterfully. I would love to see this rendered into a film by someone who knows what they are doing. The first 10-15 pages in particular are fantastic, having Sylvie run to page 3 and so on and so forth. Definitely a book worth reading.

I stumbled upon this book in my elementary school library and was so taken with it. It has such a unique story and such compelling characters. After I returned it to the library I always thought about the book but could never remember the name to complete the series! Finally in college after YEARS of searching I found it!

What a clever story, tells a tale of how the characters in a book view the people outside it, their "readers."
Though its fictiion its so charmingly told it makes you think what lies on the other side of the pages.
Well worth reading.

Originally posted at A Novel Idea Reviews

Rating: 3.5/5

When the book is opened, everyone must scramble to their places and everyone must remember their lines. But the first rule, and decidedly the most important, is to never look at the Reader. Sylvie, a veteran at her job of being a storybook princess after being the book’s main character for upwards of 80 years and throughout many Readings and Re-Readings, nevertheless longs for something more. She has lived the same adventure so many times that she can’t help but wonder what lies outside the margins, the printed words and the scenes she has acted out with the others for so long. And so, one momentous day, Sylvie breaks the rules and looks up at the Reader. What follows is an adventure beyond her wildest imagination, unscripted and uncertain. She soon realizes that it’s extremely different to live every day without knowing the ending.

I’ve read a lot of books about people who love to read, but this is probably one of the few books I’ve read which focus on the people actually being read about. This is the story of a cast of characters who live and re-live their story every time someone picks up their book and reads it. Like actors on a stage, they must scramble to their places, remember what to say and when to say it, and throw themselves into every performance. It was an interesting take on things, certainly, and I definitely enjoyed reading the story. I appreciated that, even though Sylvie was a storybook princess in the classical sense, she was by no means classical, even in her original story and even before she broke the rules that led to her further adventures. Sylvie had spirit, courage, and intelligence. No one was going to rescue her, because she could do it herself. The writing and its wry humor, with a play on the traditional fairytale, was a lot of fun for me. I would compare it to The Light Princess, which was another book I enjoyed. Apparently, it’s part of a series of books about Sylvie and her continuing escapades, but I haven’t quite gotten to those yet. While there were parts that were sort of less cohesive than the rest, I still really liked it!

This is a really cute story where the reader gets to see what it's like for the characters when someone opens the book and begins to read their story. I also liked that this book gently introduces young children to the idea of death and what it means. It's very cleverly done and I think it's a book parents would enjoy reading to their child.

4 STARS

Our book group read for this month…total whimsy that takes you all over the place. I should let it simmer in my brain for a bit. It’s the story of a story, really. And it’s also about dreams, choices, existence, and expectations. I’m curious how our discussion will go.

A great idea for a children's story -- wish I had discovered it a long time ago. I bet a print version would be better, as the audio version lost me during some of the alternate realities.

I vividly remember being sick with a terrible fever during Christmas break back in fourth grade, and cracking this book (a Christmas present from a teacher) on the couch as I rode out my light-headedness. When I finished the novel, I though I had dreamed it. Like Italo Calvino for kids, this book treats the fourth wall as a very real construct, bridging the gap between a fictional book and a nonfictional world. As a writer and an actor, even today I have fond feelings for this book and the way it made me think about writing, and reading, like new.

I always want to read these cute little books so bad but then I get sad when they're not like life-changing.