What a tough book to read. 

Romilly is a little girl who lives with her eccentric dad, Tobias in a ramshackle house in the countryside.  Mum pops up in Romilly's life at intermittent times.    Romilly doesn't go to school and she doesn't really have any friends other than the local wild child, Stacey. 
When Tobias writes a book with Romilly and her cat, Monty as the main characters, they no longer have to worry about being able to pay for things.  They suddenly have money to pay for everything they need. 

Tobias develops dementia and Romilly struggles to cope with him and his increasingly erratic behaviour. 

i don't know that I would recommend this book. There are many upsetting topics that are touched upon in this book and although everything comes together in the end, I did spend the majority of the time reading this, wondering why I was doing so.

Wonderful, brilliant and magical. This is a brilliantly written memorable story. The characters are strong and compelling and every chapter seems to draw you in more. Loved all of it. 

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

This book was a fascinating tale of intrigue, of love and pain. Romilly is made into a child of fiction by her father, a centre of media attention from the tales written about her and a treasure hunt. The family coming together and being torn apart is both tragic and gripping at the same time. 

The ending has left me reeling.

What a fantastic book to get your teeth into!

This was a good read.  I really enjoyed the descriptions of the house and surroundings and the relationship between Romilly and her father.  The development of the story through the publication of his books and the treasure hunt made for an interesting read.

This book is DARK! 
The story begins all nice and heartwarming. Romilly is living, with her father, in a quaint little house in the Suffolk countryside. He buys her a kitten and all is right with the world. By the end of the book you’re staring, open mouthed, at Romilly. Wanting to give her a hug whilst sobbing “What happened to you!?”

When we first meet Romilly, she is a lovely carefree child, if a little sad. She lives with her Father, a former art teacher, and they’ve recently moved to an quirky old house in the Suffolk countryside (a little side note, this house sounds like an absolutely amazing place to grow up, it has a MOAT!) her mother is not on the scene as she ‘left’ them four years before the story begins.
From the offset you know there is a family secret there, but the beauty of this book is, because it’s told from Romilly’s POV and it also has quite a surreal quality to it, you’re never quite sure if you’ve figured out the true story behind it all, or if you even actually know what’s going on.
Through the length of the book you watch Romilly grow emotionally and physically. By the end of the book, even though only 8 years or so have passed, she is a completely different girl to how she started. Her eyes have been opened to the reality of the kind of people her parents really are, and she has begun to question the world around her. However, because you’ve travelled this journey with her it’s not until you’re forced to take a step back and look at both of them you realise the effect all these events have had on her, and it’s slightly traumatic both for Romilly and the reader.
This is defintely not the kind of story I was expecting, but I think that made the unravelling of the tale even more intriguing. This book has such a multilayered magical quality to it that I feel if I read it again it will be a completely different story

Beautifully written and mesmerising. I will definitely be recommending this title to my book club!  Thank you netgalley for the opportunity to read this title in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the setting of this book, and the life that Romilly led. I guessed the secrets very early on and found it a little frustrating at how long it took for Romilly to uncover the truth.  It is ultimately a very sad book, but there is charm there too.

This is a book which I grew into rather than one which grabbed from the outset.  By the time I got to the end, I found the writing to be compelling, clever and beautifully imagined.

When I first started reading I was left slightly confused - had I picked up a child's/YA book by mistake?  The writing felt simple and the story a little basic.  However, as the book unfolded, this simplistic start made way for memorable characters and a wonderful example of "painting with words".  

This is an enchanting tale and hard to believe it is a debut novel deserving a re-read!

With thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for the ARC.

An intriguing and slightly unsettling YA coming of age novel. The gradual unfolding of the mystery contained in the treasure hunt books (clearly reminiscent of Kit Williams' 'Masquerade') is delightful. Romilly's semi-feral life with her friend Stacey and benignly neglectful father however repeatedly struck a slightly discordant note, as I kept wanting answers to questions like: if treasure hunters continually invade your privacy and camp on your land, why not just contact the police? Realistically, wouldn't an EWO have been in contact a heck of a lot sooner? And how does Romilly grow up with no memory at all of the big reveal at the end (no spoilers)?

The language style is lovely - and also has a tendency to keep the reader on the back foot. Descriptions of some of the characters sometimes leave a great deal of doubt about whether Romilly finds them sympathetic or not entirely trustworthy. I'm going to go with believing this is the author's clever use of language to indicate Romilly's own uncertainty and childlike perspective.

An enjoyably complex tale that avoids tying up all the ends in a neat happy-ever-after, but instead offers a much more satisfying sense of resolution, acceptance and strength to face the future.

This was an interesting book. It was smart, engaging and interesting. 

Its about a small girl called Romily who lives in a grand old house in the countryside called Braer. her father is an illustrator/painter/author and writes a book about Romily called Romily and the kitten. 

It starts off quite whimsical but takes a darker twist. 

It was an interesting story, and certainly one i have never read before.

I found this book slow and rather whimsical- I finished but not the best I have read recently. Maybe just me out of my depth

It's been a funny few weeks and although I feel as though I've been reading a lot, I have so many different books on the go that this is the only one I've finished in the past few days. 

When Romily and her father move to an old and isolated house in the depths of the countryside, to begin with there is so much to explore. She fills her days with discovering all of the secrets which are hidden in the house and grounds and her new kitten, Monty. 



Romily's father is an artist and has begun writing books which feature his daughter and her adventures. Hidden inside each of the books is a secret and people descend upon their house every summer to try and follow the treasure hunt which they are convinced hides within the pages. 



As a reader you're thrown into a world of descriptive writing, so much so that you get the chance to experience Romily's world in a visceral way. As she grows up, she struggles to understand the fame which comes with the success of the books: her father is appearing on TV and suddenly things begin to change around the house and yet still Romily is sure there's something more to the secrets hiding within the beautiful pages. 



As the years pass, she finds more clues which will lead her to her very own treasure...the truth surrounding some of the secrets from her childhood. 



Although at first this story seems full of woodland whimsy, it takes a darker turn towards the end. I can't say that I was hugely shocked or surprised by the ending, but enjoyed this story nonetheless. 

It's due to be released in October 2020. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

It’s an unusual story this one.  Not really sure what genre it fits under. Some have described it as a coming of age story but I think it went a little deeper than that.  I did on the whole find it quite slow and the ending I thought incredibly sad.  If you’re a fan of happily ever afters you’ll be in for a bit of disappointment with this book.

It didn’t help that I read through some reviews when I was part way through the book and someone gave away what I thought was quite a vital piece of information.  It kind of spoiled part of the book for me because I knew what was coming, when really it should have been as much of a shock to the reader as it was to Romilly.  I wouldn’t do that, if you want to know you’ll have to read it.  I got half-way through then broke off and read another couple of books before I took up reading it again.  I’m not entirely sure I’d have made it to the end if I’d read it all in one go.

There aren’t many characters in the book and the story revolves mainly around Romilly who doesn’t go to school and doesn’t really get out much.  She spends most of her time at home and wandering the surrounding area which I did find quite claustrophobic, but then we’re all in that boat right now aren’t we.

The book starts out with Romilly aged 10 and moves on through her childhood spent living with her Dad.  Her mum makes intermittent appearances but on the whole its just Romilly and her artist/author Dad.  He writes a series of books featuring illustrations of Romilly, their home and Romilly’s cat.  The books suggest that there are clues within the stories and especially the illustrations, which may indicate the location of treasure hidden around the family home.  Romilly does befriend a girl of a similar age to her called Stacey.  A rather wild child who I was never that keen on.  She seemed to be quite controlling of Romilly.

The very ending I didn’t really understand.  It lost me, leaving me with some unanswered questions.  But that’s OK, I like endings to books where you’re not quite sure what that ending actually is, it’s left open to a certain extent for the reader to make their own interpretation perhaps?  Or perhaps it’s just me and I didn’t ‘get’ it.  Like I said at the beginning of this review, it was very sad at the end and it certainly made me think about life.  That you should live each day as it comes and make the most of it because you never know when it can so suddenly change and turn on its head.

I’m glad I finished it, it was perhaps a little slow but the revelations in the last part make for a very emotional read.

*Review to be posted to blog a week before publication.  Review posted to GoodReads now.

Romilly Kemp lives with her eccentric father Tobias in a rundown house in the countryside.
Her mother is an intermittent, unstable presence. 
Her relationship with her father is harmonious; she knows she's loved. 
He keeps her off school without educating her, she has no friends except for wild village child Stacey (they become close for a while), and they have no money.
Romilly's father writes a children's book with Romilly, and her cat 'Monty' the main characters, and it, along with its sequels, become a hit. They become wealthy.
Many readers of the book think the beautiful illustrations in the stories are part of a treasure hunt that leads to a prize and descend on Romilly, her father and the house searching for the award.
Romilly is the only one who can decipher the clues hidden in the books, and it leads her too sinister, devastating truths locked within its pages.
Changes come for the Kemps when Tobias develops dementia, and his behaviour becomes increasingly strange, Romilly struggles as he deteriorates. 

I did not particularly enjoy this story; it touches on many challenging topics, relationships, child death, neglect, dementia, self-harm, but masters none. I almost gave up reading it.

Slow, laborious and tbh not really a book that I would have continued to read, had I not to give a review after reading, what can I say a book about a father writing a book through art using his daughter as the storyline.

Not for me I am afraid.

Whilst initially intrigued by the blurb and the beautiful cover design, I was left underwhelmed when I finally completed this book.   I just didn’t feel that affinity with the book in the way that other readers have mentioned. 

I felt it took too long to pick up the pace and get me engrossed in life at Briar View. However the clues in the illustrated books of her father were ingenious and I think I was truly more interested in those children’s’ books than of the wider story.

What a wonderful book. Compelling, memorising and so beautifully written. I knew by the time I was halfway through page one that I was going to love it. It's all about childhood, father daughter relationship and hidden treasure, with the true treasure being not money or riches but the treasure found deep inside. 
Polly Crosbys descriptive power is awesome, her words filled with such power and beauty, light and darkness and I will treasure the experience of having read this book for a long time.

Romilly’s childhood is an isolated one as she lives with her father, an artist. She becomes his muse and a mystery unfolds which imbues a more sinister tone which kept me reading until the final page..  I found this story to be endearing, compelling and  I will definitely be reading more by Polly Crosby in the future. Thank you to Netgalley for sending me an advance review copy.

The illustrated child is a beautifully written atmospheric novel about a young girl called Romilly who lives in a ramshackle home with her eccentric father, she has a wonderful relationship with her father but when he starts drawing her for a book their life’s change forever. 
The story really envelops you and leaves you really caring about Romilly and it was almost a shame to say goodbye to her at the end.

The publishers blurb for this book really drew me in but while it is an interesting concept, there are bits that made me think “really?”
Romilly and her father, a struggling artist, live by themselves in an old, ramshackle mansion in the midddle of nowhere. He paints amazing pictures and then turns some of them into a book about Romilly full of clues about a hidden treasure. Suddenly they are famous and their lives change to a certain extent. This is a book about madness and despair and finding your way though a maze of half truths and loneliness.
I almost gave up reading it at a couple of points but persevered to the end where It all makes sense. Still have those “really?” questions though.
Probably a good book for discussing with a book club!