I was excited to read another Meg Shaffer book after loving reading ‘The Wishing Game‘. The book starts out with a bang. Immediately pulled in, I grabbed a cup of tea and settled in for a cozy mystery. I’m 1% … 10% in and I’m amped.

I didn’t know this was inspired by Chronicles of Narnia, but readers will easily recognize the name dropping and the similar theme. And you know what …. I didn’t like that. Her previous book was inspired by Willy Wonka, this book inspired by Chronicles of Narnia … I want something more. I’m now 20% in and I’m starting to get a little sad.

About 50% in, I’m over it. It’s too much like a child’s book, but it’s not for children. The dialogue is annoying me. It’s choppy, unrealistic. The dialogue reminded me of one of those cheesy Disney/Nickelodeon T.V. shows, but with less slime.

We hit, what I presume is, the climax of the story way too early in the book. At 70% I’m confused why there is so much text left. We should be wrapping this up. The excitement is over… right? No… it’s the longest, midwestern goodbye as story’s wrap-up. It was unnecessary.

When reading the author’s acknowledgments she mentions her husband is also an author. Doing some quick searches I found he writes parodies of other books. Everything started coming together. I hope for Shaffer’s next book she writes something more… original? Or this might be her ‘schtick’ is she writes fantasy novels inspired by fantasy classics. If so, I might not pick up again.

Overall, I didn’t hate it. If you love, love, love Chronicles of Narnia … you might enjoy this one. Warning, there are no closets. As much as I was excited to recieve this ARC and hear Shaffer is already releasing another book… I would, sadly, not recommend this to my reader friends.

_{***Thank you to Random House/Ballantine, NetGalley and of course, Meg Shaffer, for a  copy of the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Publishing on July 16, 2024.}

Have you read The Wishing Game? Excited for this Lewis inspired novel? Let me know in the comments below!