I loved this book! It's richly detailed, mysterious, and thought provoking. 
 That being said, it probably isn't for everyone. You're not going to get any shocking reveals here because it's all hinted at beforehand and isn't very hard to figure out (I'm almost always wrong in my predictions, but I guessed them all here), and the magical element isn't really explained. But for me, those things didn't really matter, because I thoroughly enjoyed every bit of it. 
 I'm a big fan of quiet, atmospheric, nuanced reads, of flawed characters and interesting settings, and The Miniaturist fit the bill exactly.