Had this book been about a child dealing with trauma and questionable parenting, the results would have been much better than the jarring one that was given. The book ended with a messy storyline, don't-care-less-for characters and a climax that came right out of nowhere. First third of the novel has Walton's exquisite writing with the protagonist's litany about the world around her, throwing some charming old school SFF references and opines about people in general. After this, its just disintegration of a pretty interesting premise. 
 The subtle and engaging magical realism is lost by mid of novel and I pretty much lost interest after that. Motivation of some characters (like her father) was never explained and if it was subtle - I probably missed it because I had already lost interest by then. 
 Maybe this book wasn't for me.