Furthermore by Tahereh Mafi

I found this book massively adorable. 

It is completely bursting with childlike whimsy, magic that plays with reality in a very fun way, and (as is par for the course with a Tahereh Mafi book) gorgeous prose. And in addition to all this fairytale esque writing the plot and themes of the book managed to be quite mature at times. The main character, Alice, is a little girl whose favorite food is tulips and whose body completely lacks color, which is very concerning to her when color is what drives magic in this world, but the book manages to touch on wealth inequality and persecuted migrants and those who are ostracized for being different. 

I half read the book and half listened to the audiobook and both experiences were wonderful. The illustrations are very occasional but also very cute. This whole book is beautifully constructed. And the audiobook narration feels very much like the kind of bedtime story that makes you never want to go to sleep.
It did take me a while to get into this book, it is a bit confusing at first (when you are trying to put everything into rigid lines before you accept that this is a world of whimsy and you just need to remember the way things here function) but the world is cohesive and once you are in the world it is no longer confusing. 

I loved the animosity between Alice and Oliver, it is an adorable enemies to friends tale that I completely found precious. And funny. Alice is full to the brink with snark and it was fantastic. Both characters are vulnerable and dealing with big emotions and difficult situations and it is a lovely journey to watch them learn how to deal with each other and their world. 

Being that this is a middle-grade novel about a girl named Alice who enters another land we must talk about the other Alice. I felt this book was the perfect amount Alice in Wonderland without feeling like a direct retelling. The prose is experimental in a similar way and the world is full of nonsense but in a way that does not feel like a Wonderland rip off. Both have song and poetry in the plot and prose that is full of rhyme and a little girl who needs to learn about her world at home by venturing in another world. But again the stories felt very different to me. 

If you are looking to give a book full of magic to a young person you know I think this would be a great choice. Also if you just like children’s stories this is a wonderful magical tale.

I gave this book 4 stars on Goodreads and finished reading on October 11th, 2018.