Stone-in-the-Glen used to be a happy, sociable, together sort of town. But it’s gradually fallen into disrepair, solitude and hardship. No one helps one another now and seeds of mistrust are sown as neighbours look out only for themselves. But that’s OK, because they have a wonderful mayor who will always fix their problems…don’t they?

Just outside town, an Ogress is slowly setting up home. She sees the struggles of her neighbours, but can she help? And will they let her? Everyone knows ogres are dangerous, brutish creatures after all…

And, then there’s the orphans. Convinced that something is wrong, seeing what the adults are missing and determined to do something to help. The only problem is they’re not allowed out alone, and who’d listen to children anyway?

Let’s just address the orphans for a minute – many of you will know orphans in MG is one of my most hated tropes, BUT that’s usually because they’re always poorly treated, wallowing victoriana. There’s none of that here; they’re a bright, unique, dynamic bunch, well-loved and well-cared for, with individual talents and tastes and strong, believable relationships. In short, I loved them and the way their love of stories, philosophy and each other threw up interesting questions, both of them as characters and us as readers, as well as adding depth and detail to the story itself.

As with The Girl Who Drank the Moon, there’s a really strong fairytale vibe to this. From the history of the village to the stone at its centre to the story of the dragons; from the voice and style of the narration to the themes of kindness, greed and getting what you give, it oozes the feel of a fairytale but without being a twist or take or retelling – this is an utterly original story. Fans of Michelle Harrison will love it.

The story follows many characters, which can sound alarm bells – if you’re dealing with this many characters and their stories, can we get behind them? Will they have depth and credibility? Perhaps most importantly, can we follow what’s going on?

But despite featuring an ogress, a murder of crows, fifteen orphans (and the adults who care for them), a much-loved mayor, a terrible dragon, a mean-hearted butcher, a meddlesome neighbour, a dog, some sheep and not forgetting a stone (though everyone always does) – this feels complex, rounded and the plot unfolds cleverly in front of us, like Hansel’s breadcrumb trail.

Admittedly, some of these clearly have larger parts to play than others, but all are important in the grand scheme of things and we really do get to know them all so well, with their paths crossing cleverly and necessarily to reveal what’s happening in Stone-in-the-Glen.

And what is happening holds up a mirror to our own world – where politicians charm, the rich get richer and the poor pay the price; where fake news spreads, rumour mills grind and mob mentality blinds. It’s a clever and cautionary tale that nevertheless brims with hope, possibility and the idea that together we are stronger.

This is the story of Stone-in-the-Glen, once a friendly place to live, until a series of unfortunate events turned it into a sad place, where neighbours were suspicious of each other and were in awe of their duplicitous mayor. It is also the story of a lonely ogress, who makes a home on the outskirts of town, and loves nothing more than doing kind things for people. I love everything that Kelly Barnhill writes. I don't really know how to describe her writing, but the tone of it, the style, just draws the reader in, until the real world falls away. There is a fairy tale quality to it. There is a moral to this tale, about thinking of others and being good neighbours, but it never feels 'preachy'. This is a great big hug of a book and I cannot recommend it highly enough!

This is a story about how a kind ogress who people are afraid of without getting to know her and a group of orphans forgotten by a previously loving community save their village and the people in it.
Its a story of manipulation by a single nasty individual and the havoc that can wreak on a mass of people, turning selflessness into selfishness, kindness into suspicion and dividing what was once a close knit community. This is a story of special children with special gifts that should not be ignored.
I loved this book. This is a story where the library, the knowledge it contains and the stimulus it provides to the community is a reminder of how books enrich our lives. There is an element of fantasy with the ogre and the specialness of the books within the library and talk of dragons. But most of all, it is a special reminder of how people’s actions form the quality of the world we live in, be it for good and for bad. In a world full of misinformation, uneasy relationships and clashes over beliefs, this is a reminder of how seeds of goodness and kindness can win through.
Will appeal to fans of Kate DiCamilo

What a truly delightful book this was! It was just so heartwarming and full of love and light and life. There were some dark moments, seeing how the people of Stone-in-the-Glen fell away from each other when their strange Mayor arrived and their towns buildings and trees were burned to the ground, but the story overall was a message of how kindness can prevail, how good it is to be good and how the littlest thing can make a difference to someone's life.
I couldn't put the book down, and read it pretty much in one sitting. I loved it from start to finish. Highly recommended!

We are actually starting to look forward to the stormy weekends (almost) as we have nothing to disturb us reading our favourite authors . We enjoyed The girl who drank the moon and thought perhaps this might be just as good. Actually we enjoyed this MORE. The story and the characters are a delight, the younger children enjoyed it , the older ones just as much and myself - I loved it. Kelly Barnhill just keeps delivering great stories.

This is a nicely written book about community and compassion, but the pacing felt rather slow to me, particularly in the first half.

This is a book about a hard run-down town, being swindled and lulled into complacency by their Mayor (who you can guess rather early on is behind it all and why/how.) It's about people shutting their doors to others and becoming self-centred until they no longer notice the suffering around them.

And then it's about recreating that community through small actions that open eyes. It about understanding being the first step to rebuilding community, how small actions can start an avalanche, prompting others to get involved. And it all feels very timely.

It takes until about the halfway point for the child to go missing and the rest of the blurb is mostly the final 25%. Instead, most of the book is a very domestic picture of a town where everyone has isolated themselves, and people are going hungry. There isn't really a thread of narrative tension in this section, it is just a daily plodding along of lives.

This lack of tension meant there wasn't much forwards momentum, there wasn't a lot at stake of any goals to root for people to achieve. I found it really hard to sink into the first half of the book because of this.

The book is told by an omniscient narrator, who mostly just tells the story, but occasionally interjects with observations about themselves that contrast to the people they are describing. For example, if someone wasn't listening then the narrator say "but I did." You do eventually find out who the narrator is.

I absolutely loved this book, I loved the narrative and the narration of the book. I absolutely loved this opening sentence as it made me chuckle “She is not who you might think she is.
(But really, is anyone?)”
A beautiful written book with themes of friendship and acceptance. This book is absolutely pure magic.