I ended up really enjoying this novel, though at a couple chapters in I wasn't really sure I wanted to bother finishing it. The author takes a while to set up the narrative and works on developing Peter's character and life history before he starts his adventure. 
 The novel has an overall feel very much like The Wizard of Oz, but with quite a bit more action at the end through a relatively small war between groups of characters. It starts out with Peter in a port town, surviving day by day. He's blind and has had to steal from and outwit others to survive. Eventually Peter meets a man who tempts Peter into breaking into a caravan with many locks. Peter steals a box that has 'eyes' made of precious materials. Each pair of 'eyes' has a magical quality that Peter discovers through their use. The first brings him to a Professor who essentially sends him on an adventure with a sidekick (Sir Tode) to rescue someone who has sent off a message in a bottle. It's once this adventure begins that I became more interested in finishing to the end. 
 I'd say this is a good novel for anyone who likes The Wizard of Oz, drama and politics between dynamic groups of characters, and those who enjoy descriptive and sensory writing (it's very descriptive because Peter is blind - much of what he relies on is his sense of touch and smell). I'd also recommend it for anyone who really loves the darker, pessimistic, and gloomy narrative style of The Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket. Jonathan Auxier has a similar way of discussing the narrative with, and providing witty and pretentious commentary to, the reader throughout the novel.