Couldn't get into this; the realities of CPS, orphanages, and the foster care system are dismal and this cutesy fictionalization just seemed... wrong. I can see where the author was going and their potentially good intent, yet after having read a few quotes from him, I simply do not think this was the way to shine a light on a very violent system.

The main character's awareness of this violence and willful ignorance to his complicity made me want to simply not witness his expected transformation. The child "welfare" system is full of overworked, underpaid, and desensitized social workers. The idea that one would not be burnt out after 17 years of adherence to the demands of the "extremely upper management" (what in the harry potter was that), and the worrying the lack of self-examination after closing 5 orphanages and trusting the system to take care of the impacted children, combined with the weird attempt at being a quirky fantasy story with real-life metaphors put this book out of the realm of simply having an unlikable main character.

I understand the metaphors, the symbolism of youth and trauma, and the truth in the main character--it is this understanding that makes this book unreadable.