Okay, this wasn't very different from a lot of middle grade stories. Nothing from the plot really stood out. If I were rating this as an adult I would probably deduct a star because of that.

But this is a story written for kids, and it had all the elements I loved in books as a child. Brave and adventurous main character? check. I absolutely adored Serafina by the end of this book! Creepy moments? check. I think this got more scary than a goosebumps book while still being appropriate for kids. Magic surrealism? check. Animals? Yes! I was obsessed with animals as a child, and this book has a very strong animal theme running throughout it. I also appreciated the balance between cats and dogs. I feel like Robert Beatty must have been careful not to sound too much like a cat or a dog person when he was writing this. It's really good, I'll definitely be recommending this to my 9-13 year old cousins!