3.5 stars
This was such a fun middle grade story. It reminds me of old school fantasy and the adventure stories I read when I was younger. I loved the plot, the journey type of narrative is one of my favourites. However, I had some issues with the language used as sometimes I was a bit lost. The characters fell a bit flat for me too. But, overall, it was a really enjoyable read that I would recommend.

I loved this book. I love historical fiction, so it was a perfect blend of fantasy with historical elements. I found it entertaining, it was like going on a nice adventure. I would definitely recommend it.

This book was cute, but it wasn't for me. I loved the cover and the description mentioned Middle Age England so I thought I would love it, but that's not what happened. What a shame.

3.5 stars

This was a creative story inspired by Scottish history and lore about a girl named Anne-Wynn Hopringle, the second of 3 daughters of a Scottish Laird. She discovers a village of tiny people and becomes best friends with Jimmy, one of the lads in the village. There were a lot of things I liked about this story including the description of the little people, her dog, and the adventure they took to try to break the curse put on the little people. I had trouble with the Deablin sections, which were little passages having to do with her grandmother. I eventually figured out the purpose and it was important, but the syntax of passages was confusing to me and I had a hard time determining their meaning. The tense of the whole novel was also not my favorite, although once I got used to it, it was easier to ignore. Despite these issues, I did enjoy the story and I definitely want to read more. But as other reviewers have suggested, I hope future books have a good editor to help streamline the flow of the language. I think without these issues, this could be an excellent book, especially for middle school kids. As it stands now, I'm not sure if a middle school student would take the time to immerse themselves in this story.

Thanks to #CLWilliams, #NetGalley, and #Matador for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 -4 stars

Smailholm was an engaging middle-grade fantasy that was easy to read and fun to enjoy. It is a historical fantasy with olde-worlde language in small parts. I enjoyed the setting of Scotland, the differences between the haves and the have-nots and of course the Lilliput/Borrowers context of little people in a little land.

There were two protagonists in this story, a 13-year old girl called Wynn who was noblewomen-to-be living in Smailholm Tower and then short chapter interludes from Deablin. Who or what Deablin is, is revealed during the story but it was a clever connection, even though her short interjections were sometimes a little confusing. That said, the confusion was part of the story and it did build up to answers eventually.

Wynn had found the little village, hidden under the brambles, where she was a giant and they were very small. Wynn had been getting to know these folks for a few years and they had become trusted friends. At the fore of the village people were Jimmy and Jenny. Vargo, Wynn’s dog was also a key character and a sweet addition to the story.

What starts off as an interesting story becomes one of adventure, fantastical beings and unsavoury creatures. It all made for a rather fast-paced story. There were moments of reading confusion with some of the fantasy elements but the world building came and caught me up on most questions. I found the eventual Deablin answers a bit confusing and some of the beings or spirits connected to that difficult to get into. The rest of the story kept me engaged, however.

The story finished rather openly and with some elements I want to know more about and some characters I need to know about. This was a solid debut from CL Williams and I would definitely read her work again.

I was really looking forward to this from the description but to be honest, it let me down. It all felt a little bit rushed and light on plot, I wanted so much more but it just didn’t deliver for me. Sorry, thank you for the copy though.

Oh I so wanted to love this book, the premise and cover spoke to me in the same way classic books from my childhood did (particularly the Hobbit), but I couldn’t fully get into the book.

The good: The story has great potential and is unique compared to other YA books currently available. I adored the description of the tiny village and its pastoral inhabitants. It’s obvious the author has done their research on the culture and customs of 1500s Scotland and can evoke the time beautifully. I could see the characters sitting around the campfire and almost hear the crackle of the wood.

The not so good: The waffling between the syntax completely took me out of the experience. I even checked to see if there were two writers that co-wrote to explain the strange switching between writing styles and syntax. Not to mention refining the grammar and spelling: “I [...] lean forwards” is the third sentence on the first page. It’s not an egregious mistake, but it’s the first page and should have been more thoroughly copy-edited.

Overall, I would recommend this book after some editing but it has the bones of a great story.

*~I received a free advanced reading copy from Netgalley in exchange for a review. My opinions therein are my own.~*

This book was not quite to my taste, it was a little darker than expected. I thoroughly enjoyed most of the adventure, but the ending felt unsatisfying. There were also various spelling errors (here, here instead of hear, hear; and storks instead of stalks), however, most books have one or two, so don’t let that put you off.

An excellent adventure in a convincing world, this would be a good book for children (of MG age) who wouldn’t be afraid of some darkness, and don’t mind not getting a wholly happy ending. I won’t be continuing with the series.

I was given a free copy of this book. My opinions are my own.