I received an audiobook ARC from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. It has not affected my opinions.
Genre: Fantasy
Age Range: MG
Star Rating: 4 stars
Series: first book
Review:
Open the door to a spellbinding world where the wilderness is alive and a deep magic rises from the earth itself . . .
Daisy Thistledown has recently escaped from boarding school, and has a mystery to solve. The trail will lead her through a hidden doorway to the Greenwild, a rich and verdant land bursting with magic. There, Daisy finds herself confronting a dangerous presence that threatens green magic on both sides of the door.
Daisy must band together with a botanical prodigy, a boy who can talk to animals, and a cat with an attitude, to channel the power that can save the Greenwild – and her own world too.
Blurb taken from Goodreads. Add to your shelves here.
Review:
THE WORLD BEYOND THE DOOR is the start to a green fingered series about protecting nature from exploitation and fighting for family, blood and found.
Greenwild is a magical series of “pocket worlds” accessible by magic from our world. There botanists have green-fingered magic, growing and weaving plants into buildings, food, medicine, and more – all the things our world can do but far more magical! I really love plant magic as it’s things around us doing (more visually) cool things than usual.
It’s also a great vehicle for the book to discuss the destruction of rainforests and other vulnerable habitats through human activities. The green-fingered magic of the botanists only serves to highlight how much is lost through destruction but adding extra magic to these environments. I liked that the reasons behind it (the greed and how scarcity drives up prices) were discussed in an easily accessible way.
This is a book all about family. Daisy is searching for her mum, determined not to give up on her even if others have. However, she also finds a new family, the five o’clock club, other kids in the Greenwild who don’t quite fit in and stick together like glue. I enjoyed that both types of families were celebrated, but also some of the tensions that can be found in blood families were explored too.
I will be adding the next book to the TBR!
Sifa Elizabeth Reads 