This is a wonderful fairy tale. I listened to it on CD from the library, and I loved it. It's the kind of fairy story I always wanted to read but never found. ( )

I enjoyed this as a historical fiction book but honestly kinda meh on the fairy stuff. Didnt make a ton of sense and I disliked the weird age up thing that led imediatly to romance yikes. ( )

I've been recommending this book to kids for a few years now, so I figured I'd better read it. It was thoroughly satisfying. I liked the blend of historical fiction and fairy tale fantasy. And how very interesting to read about how horrible the Puritans were! So different from the New England history I learned as a kid! ( )

This was a lovely reading (by Juliet Stevenson) of an interesting mix of fairy tale and historical novel. A young girl with a mother of mysterious origin lives through the time of Cromwell in London. One day, she is the recipient of silver shoes, and her life changes at breakneck pace. ( )

Spellbinding. All the attention to sensory detail made the experience of reading it so immersive I finished the book in one late night. Dramatic & atmospheric, full of allusions and symbolism. Good vs. evil - the only truly complex character is Coriander's father who is a good man who makes some bad decisions. I especially loved how painlessly I actually learned a bit more about English history, both political and cultural. I'm excited to discuss this in the Children's Books group - come join us all through Oct. 2012.

ETA - turns out I wasn't actually learning very good history. See msg 13 from Abigail in this thread: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1047720?utm_content=A&utm_medium=email&a.... In fact the whole discussion is good - and I've taken a star off my rating. ( )