One night, Alice comes downstairs and sees her father talking to a fairy. The next day her father goes off on a trip; and a couple of days after that the boat he is on is lost at sea meaning that she is sent to live with a relative she has never heard of - Uncle Geryon. So begins a new fantasy series where Alice meets talking cats in uncle Geryon's library, finds out she is "a reader" and is dragged into Geryon's dangerous game. 
 I must say I was disposed to like this book. Firstly, anyone called Django Wexler must be able to write an amazing fantasy just by his name. Secondly, I do really love libraries and books, which is why I am writing this review. And thirdly, and most importantly, it grabbed my attention from the start. 
 Alice is a really likeable character who one can't fail to empathise with and wish the best for. I followed her adventures with baited breath and impressed by and indignant for her on every other turn of the page. The other characters in the book are also engaging, Ashes the cat is a great one, and even the nasty Mr Black is an interesting, well-drawn individual who I wanted to know more about. 
 My absolute favourite bit is when Alice "reads". I love the device of "reading" the words and then reading the words - that is absolutely why I love reading. That alone, makes me almost give this book 5 stars. I actually didn't though because I didn't love the ending. I really liked it, but I am not completely captivated by books that are "to be continued", I would rather and ending ended, and a new book started, that's another thing I love about books. 
 But all in all, I really enjoyed this book and I shall definitely be reading the next one in the series.