I adored this story and how when the author travels to do book readings, they often bring a mobile puppet theater. The weaving together of history, fairy tales, and magic was completely delicious. That being said, there were so many points where this giant tome could have been edited down to flow better. Many, many scenes and conversations are shared over and over again, to the point where I yelled out, "WE KNOW THIS ALREADY!" And unfortunately, the two sibling heroes who take us through the journey have a pretty grating relationship that doesn't do an ounce of transforming until the very end of the story. But that's all okay because I loved this book and can't wait to read what comes next from GennaRose Nethercott.