Book Review: Liesl & Po by Lauren Oliver

Liesl & Po by Lauren Oliver

ARC, 320 pgs. Published in Hardcover

Published Oct. 4th, 2011 by HarperCollins

Reading Level: Middle Grade

Source: Amazon Vine

 Liesl lives in a tiny attic bedroom, locked away by her cruel stepmother. Her only friends are the shadows and the mice—until one night a ghost appears from the darkness. It is Po, who comes from the Other Side. Both Liesl and Po are lonely, but together they are less alone.That same night, an alchemist's apprentice, Will, bungles an important delivery. He accidentally switches a box containing the most powerful magic in the world with one containing something decidedly less remarkable
Will's mistake has tremendous consequences for Liesl and Po, and it draws the three of them together on an extraordinary journey.
From New York Times bestselling author Lauren Oliver comes a luminous and magnificent novel that glows with rare magic, ghostly wonders, and a true friendship that lights even the darkest of places.

 Full of magic, adventure, friendship and family this book was a nice change for me from what I've recently been reading.  Although it had a bit of a slow start it quickly picked up and I had fun watching things unfold.  I loved that every person in this book seems to connect somehow and it really was fun watching to see what would happen and piece things together.  

The characters were a lot of fun but I think it took a few chapters for me to warm up to them.  They each had distinctive personalities or things that really stood out.  Liesl loved her father and was determined to get his ashes to their old home.  She was open minded to the ghost of Po and was never scared, though was quite curious.  Po didn't always understand things, he's really just a shadow of himself.  Or itself since he/she doesn't even remember if he/she was a boy or a girl.  But he seems compelled to help Liesl.  Will just has this strong feeling from the beginning that he must protect Liesl.   

This was a fast read and once I got through the first few chapters I was sucked in and read it straight through.  I encourage fans of middle grade fantasy to give this one a try!

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Disclosure: I received an advance copy of this book free of charge in exchange for an honest review.  All opinions expressed are my own, I was not paid or influenced in any way.