extremely wholesome and heartwarming. the characters are lovely and engaging and it definitely tugged on the heartstrings in multiple parts.

two cons: the overarching metaphor of the book (Prejudice Is Bad) is a little heavy-handed and simplistic in parts for me. the conflict with the villagers is wrapped up in one or two chapters thanks to the magic pixie dream mayor who literally takes the main rabble rouser by the ear at one point to lecture him off-screen. ultimately I felt like I could have done without that entire bit, because the rest of the book set up the tone of prejudice against magical people well enough on its own.

the other con is that every character seems a liiiiiiittle bit too perfect for me. Linus especially (who arrives to the island with little social experience, let alone experience with children outside of work (and he admittedly keeps his distance to remain objective on the job)) knows all the right things to say at every moment to resolve all conflict and soothe all trauma.

HOWEVER, those really are minor issues in the grand scheme of how i felt about the book. i really did love the perfect characters and how real they felt, how the interacted with each other and how the story naturally unfolded. i flew through this because klune’s writing is so easy to digest and the setting was so engrossing.