The Crosswood is an extremely fast paced short story that focuses on Blue and his very quick journey to the fairy realm to save his twin siblings.

While the foundation of this story is very easy to follow along with, it does suffer from the length. This is a novella sized middle grade story so everything happens back to back to back. There is no lull in the story so it makes it very easy to quickly digest. The problem for me was that because it was so fast and so short it gave no time to really enjoy your time with Blue and the many people he meets. All the lore that is built is extremely minimal and nothing goes into detail, its hard to feel the love between Blue and his siblings, the journey is extremely short, the friendships Blue makes feel hollow. Its a cute story, but I would have loved to have seen this fleshed out to a longer length, I feel it would have really made the story better. ( )

Tried to read this book, but couldn't connect with the story or characters.

A quick and delightful read, one perfect for drawing in tweens just getting into chapter books with a fantasy theme. I'm giving my copy to the eleven year old boy I mentor and hope he enjoys it as much as I did. ( )

Thank you to Library Thing and Orca Currents for the chance to review this as an early reader. I really enjoyed it. It had that atmosphere that really good fairy tales have, and I loved the whimsical names of the kids. It was a very fast read. I flew through it in one sitting, but it kept me turning the pages to see what would happen. The author's descriptions really paint vivid pictures in the reader's mind. I would highly recommend it.

My only criticism is that I loved the world that the author created and wish she could have expanded on it into a longer and more in-depth book. I hope to read a sequel, as it seems like it was set up for Blue to go on a new adventure. I also enjoyed the writing enough that I plan to look for more books by this author. ( )

Short and packed with fantasy, magic and adventure, this is a read which lets the secrets of the forest take flight.

Blue is fourteen and sick of helping his mother constantly take care of his very unruly, sibling twins. At ten, one would think they had some sense, but they are always getting into the most ridiculous trouble. When a chance to hide for a breather leaves Blue's mom with a broken ankle...thanks to the twin's antics...he's had enough and breaks the rule of keeping a constant eye on them. The result has them kidnapped by a fairy king and him faced with a fairy queen, who wants to have his life for a contract he never knew even existed.

Young fantasy friends...especially those who don't want to dive into a 200+ page novel...are going to enjoy this one. It starts with a normal boy, who has sibling troubles and can't wait not to help out with them. Anyone who has younger siblings will already identify with him, and those without, will sympathize with his problems. He comes across like any normal kid from school, and, actually is. That's one thing I do love about this tale because his 'usualness' definitely doesn't hinder his ability to experience amazing things and head into a huge adventure.

The author allows hints at something more magical to immediately start weaving into Blue's world without giving away exactly what's going on. The magical world hits with full force and draws the reader in with a bit of curiosity and excitement. It's well done without being overly descriptive. Even the other characters gain wonderful personality without ever slowing down the fast-paced plot. Every character is intriguing and has a hint of exciting magic. It's impossible to say what will come next, making the twists and turns come with delicious surprise. Of course, some of the smoothness of a longer novel is missing, letting the events jump from one right to the next, since this is a short but packed adventure. And still, it flows well enough not to let that hurt the read.

With all of it's richness, the read is still short and easy. At around only 100 pages, it invites even more reluctant readers to take a glance, and the pacing keeps a reader in the pages until the very end. There are hints at more adventures to come, and I'm more than curios to see what Blue will experience next.
I won a complimentary copy through Library Thing and was surprised how grabbing this read is. ( )