In his university library, Zachary Rawlins stumbles across an unusual book full of captivating stories and, impossibly, a tale from his own childhood - determined to make sense of this, Zachary finds himself on a dangerous quest involving a secret club, magical doorways and a mysterious underground library…

This is a tricky one to summarise and to review without spoilers, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s convoluted and complex - you do have to keep track of what’s happening in the various plot threads whilst also just surrendering to the flow of how the story is told and not quite knowing exactly what’s going on - but it does eventually come together well, much to my delight. As with any self-respecting fantasy quest, there are unexpected friendships, shadowy forces of evil and plenty of mysterious goings-on. But this is also an ode to storytelling and the power of stories.

Millennial readers who loved fantasy as kids are clearly the target audience (hello, it’s me) and references to the fantasy books of our childhood abound, which was lovely, except on the Harry Potter front, which was slightly overdone. Since it wasn’t actually necessary to the story, it felt like Morgenstern was trying a little too hard to tap into that particular nostalgia, and for me, it’s become a reference that’s…tainted and just felt a little awkward to read (granted, this was published five years ago, but I think JKR was already spouting vitriol).

A complex, satisfyingly convoluted fantasy adventure that explores storytelling, friendship and finding oneself - ideal for anybody who read fantasy as a kid.