I'm a bit ashamed because it took me a year to read it after I got a copy from Netgalley even though it is such a short story.

Kicsi grows up in a small Jewish village in central Europe, and the story starts as something between a fable and mythology, interweaving Jewish folklore and magic in the story. Although I didn't like that part as much as I thought I would, it was the second half that really confused me.

Vörös warns them for the danger and it is clear that the story takes place around the second world war. But all of a sudden, there are a few chapters with the characters in a concentration camp to end with more magic. It felt very weird, not in the least because I can not believe that no matter how small their village was they would not have noticed anything from the Nazi regime at all before they were taken away to the camps. Also, the part of Kicsi in the camp felt somehow out of place or maybe rushed. It left me with an uncomfortable feeling.

The main feeling I had when reading, and certainly after I finished was that I didn't really understand the story. I feel like I missed something very important and now all I feel is confused. I'm not sure what the message is the book was trying to convey. I still have another book by Lisa Goldstein which I will certainly give a chance, because the best part of The Red Magician was certainly the writing. That was really beautiful.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

This is a fable, not a novel.  The characters aren't people,but they are more than types.  It is actually a fable about loss and blame.  It's something you puzzle over more than enjoy, though.

(I got a copy through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.)

2.5 stars, between "OK" and "I liked it." I very much enjoyed the magical/illusion aspects in this book: the concept of the Labyrinth, questioning people and their motives, "taking a new turn" when you learn something new, and how just about anything could be turned into a lesson—often not the most obvious one. The Order, done partly through the journal of one of its earliest members, had one of those late Victorian flavours that I tend to like. Secret societies, people trying to get a glimpse of mysteries through communing with spirits... And power, the "Gift" passed from parents to children in the Allalie family, something that could be used for good (for instance, whether it was on purpose or not, Dodd did stop drinking after that night in the prologue), but also for less than shiny endeavours.

The writing itself was fairly good, and managed to evoke vivid imagery of the magic shows in the 1920s and 1930s (or at least, what I'd expect magic shows to be like). The antics, relationships, tensions and weirdness of Molly's family were easy to grasp, and definitely interesting.

What prevented me from enjoying this story more were the characters first and foremost. While the premise was intriguing and fascinating, I couldn't connect with any of them. The Allalies were too shrouded in mystery and half-lies to feel like actual people, and Molly often struck me as bumbling around without any idea of what she was doing: not in terms of investigating (after all, she wasn't a private eye or a cop, so it made sense she wouldn' have such reflexes etched in her), but as a person. Maybe it's just me, but from the beginning, her behaviour when Peter was concerned just made me feel like smacking her to put some sense into her. This made it harder to reconcile with how she evolved towards the end, going from clueless to maybe too resourceful.

There were also a few instances of characters popping out of nowhere, more as plot devices than as people: the man in England, the people from the Order... Their roles didn't feel really defined, and they would've deserved more spotlight in order to look like they had a place of their own in the story. Same goes for clues that appeared without enough groundwork having been laid beforehand. This ended for me as a strange mix of predictability (the Allalie's family name was so obvious) and "wait, what, where did that come from?" reactions. The story tended to plod, and there were moments I found myself reading in the hopes I'd get more out of it, rather than because I was genuinely involved in it fully. The journey mattered more than the ending, but I wished said journey had streamed more seamlessly, without the constant feeling of being driven by plot devices.

Overall: worth borrowing, but maybe not buying.

I received an ARC copy of this book from the publisher, Open Road---who publish a wide variety of very fine books in all genres, in exchange for an honest review.

My second book by Lisa Goldstein, who is very talented. I read The Red Magician (which won the National Book Award) first, which will be one of my favorites for the year, and this one just doesn't pack quite the same punch, but it is a different type of book so might not be fair.

Although both books are fantasy and steeped in magcial realism, The Red Magician in clearly in the genre of YA, and Walking the Labyrinth is definitely not. Philosophical and rather mystical in the same way that the novels of Paulo Coelho are, this novel seeks to teach a bit, I think. After all, the constantly repeated leitmotif is "What have you learned?"

"Oh God, your going to ask me questions again. You're going to ask me what I've learned."

"Well, what have you?"

"I learned--I learned that illusion is a way to truth. That illusion can reveal truth, a deeper truth. That there are things beyond or beneath or on the other side of what most people...think of as reality,"

Our main characters, the Allalies, are a family of illusionists that trace their origin, their magical one at least, to a old secret society called The Order of the Labyrinth, which is both an actual physical, metaphysical, and magical place, but also symbolic of the twists and turns of the lives of the characters--all of whom are charged with this quest to recognize what it is that they must learn. That might be my only real complaint with this otherwise very enjoyable novel--I found the didactic element to be rather heavy handed.

Molly, both a member of this powerful yet odd family, but not of the inner circle, embarks on a quest to find a lost family member who may have been murdered, perhaps by another family member, and in the process track down the origins of the secret Order of the Labyrinth and encounters very real and dangerous opposition. I found the first two thirds of this book to be a thrilling page turner that slowed down only when it came time to unravel the mystery.

At the end, we are once again asked to self examine as Molly asks a new question--

"What am I capable of? I've walked Fentrice's labyrinth, but what would happen if I walked my own? What would I find at the center? What sort of monster is lurking there, what horrible emotions do I have that I keep hidden away, that I never look at?"

The answer is that even as we contemplate and perhaps judge the actions of others, we still are actually walking our own labyrinth and confronting our own personal monster--desire, addiction, cowardice, greed, or even devastating sorrow that overwhelms and controls us. It is how we deal with our own personal Minotaur that makes all the difference.

4 stars for great writing and a compelling story line.

Moonlight Reader started the TBR Thursday, and I think it's a good way to a) show what new books I've got and b) confront myself with my inability to lower my TBR. In fact, since I started recording it, it has risen significantly. I get the feeling I'm doing something wrong here...

I've had a very bad week (or good) depending on what you're measuring. I wanted to lower my TBR but I've quite impressively failed. However, this means I've added loads (literally) of books. And they all seem really exciting. I'd expected to have a slight increase because there was a great book sale last weekend (but I bought 13 books, which must be close to a record for me). And then there were quite a lot of Netgalley books that I got approved/invited for, which is also really nice, but makes this week's TBR massive. So prepare. And did I already say that I'm buried in work for the University right now. I wish I had some time. 

TBR pile currently stands at 236. (+21)

(Netgalley ARCs at 77 (+6))

The Maze Runner is actually the four book box set. I've already read the first book and thought it was OK, but after watching the film I wanted to continue reading the series.

Alias Hook is a book I've wanted to read ever since I first came across it , so I was really glad when I found it Sunday morning.

I wanted to finish another series, so finally bought The Sweet Far Thing. The reviews aren't overwhelming to say the least, but I'll be glad if I can close a series.

City of Bones actually stands for the first three books in the series. It's going to be a group read with one of my book forums. So, I'm curious to see if I'll like it.

The Metamorphosis because sometimes I feel like reading something different.

Bring Up The Bodies is one of those books I've heard so much about that now I just want to try it out and read it.

The Raw Shark Texts has been read by a number of my friends and they all really liked it, so I regretted not buying it myself. So now I did get my own copy.

Seed, The Red Magician & Walking the Labyrinth seemed like really interesting stories, so I requested them on Netgalley.