This book review was part of a podcast discussion.
Listen to the episode here.
I read Inkheart for the first time in elementary school and immediately fell in love. It was a book with magic and mystery and danger and hope. It follows Meggie, a twelve-year-old girl, her father, Mo, a bookbinder, and the mysterious man who arrived at their house one night. His name is Dustfinger, and with him is a horned marten named Gwin and a sense of foreboding.
Since Dustfinger’s late night arrival, Meggie realizes that her father has kept a great many secrets from her, ranging from why they move around so often to what happened to her mother many years ago. Whatever the secrets are, they seem to revolve around a book that Mo keeps hidden from her, Inkheart. It seems a harmless book of fairies and trolls, but it’s what the book no longer contains that is dangerous. When Mo reads aloud, the words are so vivid and real that characters come alive from the books. The villain Capricorn slipped from the pages while Mo was reading, along with his henchman Basta and the unassuming Dustfinger. After years of on the run, Capricorn has found them. He wants Mo to bring someone else out of the book, someone less a villain and more a nightmare. Betrayal, heartbreak, and friends old and new come together to bring this book alive.
Minnesota
Caty Willis works a boring day job, but in downtime fancies herself an artist and writer. She loves reading, especially fantasy, and dreams of opening a bookstore one day. Follow her on Twitter @shimmybook.
