Worlds of Ink and Shadow by Lena Coakley - ADVISABLE

Worlds of Ink and Shadow by Lena Coakley, 347 pages.  Amulet, 2018. $18. 

Language: PG (2 swears, 0 ‘f’); Mature Content: PG (some innuendo); Violence: G (some danger)

BUYING ADVISORY:  MS – OPTIONAL; HS - ADVISABLE

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

Emily and Anne Bronte can only watch as Branwell and Charlotte, their older siblings, escape each days for hours on end to their fantasy world of Verdopolis.  The olders used to take the young ones with them, but now they are left behind.  Emily, for one is determined to find her way in, especially since she has a passion for Branwell’s main character, the Rogue.  When Emily figures out how to pay the price, even when she doesn’t know what the price is, Anne may be the only one who has the level head needed to rescue everyone as the world begins to exert its own will on the siblings.

It is so hard to judge these novels that kind of assume you know the backstory about the characters. Did I enjoy the book on its own merits? Kind of, but I was constantly distracted by trying to figure out what was based on Bronte family’s true history and what was purely the story.  I think is would be much better going to this having never heard of the Brontes. Please stop doing this.

Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS