I no longer have an interest in reviewing this title but would like to thank the publisher and author for the opportunity, it is now far past the publication and archive date. I have awarded 3 stars to keep this review neutral.

Snowglobe might be aimed for the younger reader, I still managed to enjoy it. A good book that would be ideal for a younger sister, or granddaughter.

This is a gorgeous middle grade novel that follows 12 year old Clementine. Her mum disappeared when she was younger and now it’s just her and her dad. She one day finds a house and inside it’s full of snowglobes and people seem to be trapped inside them. This leads to Clem making huge discoveries about her lost mum, and herself. I don’t normally read fantasy but this is a lovely magical novel that I know I would have loved as a child. It’s a beautiful read that I’d recommend to everyone, it’s a perfect winter read to curl up with!

It took me such a long time to read this book, because I felt I had better things to be doing - I became bored! I loved the idea of the snowglobes and the travels through them, and the idea of the children discovering their magic and trying to make it work for them, but I think there was just too much going on. The main character kept talking about her mother and reading her notebook, and ignoring her father when he was trying to keep her safe, and going to the house and leaving and going and leaving and ugh. I think I just kept waiting for the exciting adventure to happen and enjoying the bits where it did and then it fizzled out and there was more of the same. I read it over the Christmas period as I thought the whole snowglobe theme would fit in nicely, and it did feel quite wintry and sort of festive ( while being nothing about Christmas) but I realised just over halfway through that I was dreading sitting down to lunch with a book and was replacing it with lunch and TV because I really didn't have any interest in Miss Moany Repeaterface and her friend no enemy no friend no wait we don't like him again. I liked the dog, though. I won't be recommending this to any of the younger readers I know as there is such a large amount to choose from at the moment, and I think there are better options out there.

I am grateful to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book, despite this.

This book will be very attractive to the middle grade readers it is aimed at. There is a great deal of action and some beautiful imagery. For me it lacks depth but I realise that won't be a problem for younger readers.

Clementine has always known she has magic inside her, but recently its been getting stronger, and harder to hide.
When she's suspended from school, her father gives her her mother's notebook. Its full of notes, spells, potions and her mother's thoughts. Then she finds the house which has been hidden all these years, her mother's house. It's full of snowglobes and one of them has her classmate, Dylan trapped inside. Before she can do anything to save him, she meets her terrifying aunt, who doesn't even know about her. She's chased out of the house and it disappears again.
Despite all her father's warnings and fears, she goes back, knowing she can't just leave Dylan to his fate.

Really enjoyable middle grade fantasy that just missed out on four stars from me.

This book is certainly full of magic and atmosphere, but for me, the pacing let it down a little. I really loved the idea of people being trapped inside snowglobes - how creepy! The adventures that Clementine had whilst moving through the snowglobes were really interesting and well-imagined. However, I felt that it dragged a little in places, especially with Clementine's worries about her absent mother being reiterated a little too often for my liking. It almost felt like it wanted to be two separate books: one with the emotional exploration of lost family, and one that fully took advantage of the wonderfully creepy house and the huge range of possibilities created by the snowglobes.

I think that the world-building and ideas are fantastic, and I'm keen to see what this author does in the future!

A great little book - full of magic. I love the idea of the snow globes and feel there could be further books to make this a series!

This is such a wonderful, heartwarming and precious book! Even if is classified as "Children fiction" it's such a good book than can be fully appreciated by adults as well.
I loved everything: from the style of writing to the world building, from the characters to the plot.
It's well written and it's a page turner.
A great discovery, I look forward to reading other books by Amy Wilson.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to Pan Macmillan and Netgalley for this ARC

I think this was one of the books where the concept was much stronger than the execution. I loved the idea of the magicians trapped in the snowglobes, and the young characters having to journey through them. I loved the creativity of that concept and I thought that this had the recipe for something really interesting.

What I think let this story down was that there were a lot of elements at play, quite a few balls in the air, if you will. There’s the lost mother narrative, the mythological-meets-modern idea, the bully befriending the bullied, there’s the snowglobes – there’s a lot. I actually felt like this book could have benefitted from being a little longer, from having the time to explore those themes in a bit more detail and to really get to grips with how they all intersect. As it was I was very confused for a good portion of this book – which is not something I tend to expect from a middle-grade novel.

That being said, the prose is lovely, the characters are interesting, though I myself didn’t relate to them hugely, I think other children might. There are moments that truly capture the imagination, the idea of thousands of unique worlds contained within the snowglobes certainly caught my mind’s eye. I can envision school children being asked to design their own snowglobe world as either an artistic or creative writing exercise, which I would have loved as a child.

With a firmer hand on the rudder, or perhaps just with a more limited scope, I think this could have been an exceptional middle-grade story. As it is, I think there was just a little too much going on for any one element to shine through. I’m also a little bit biased against stories in which bullies and bystanders get redemption, but that’s personal experience and preference shining through. It does have the trope of a young girl discovering she has magic, and it also has a dog – so it had some of my favourite things too!

I think this will make a good Christmas gift or wintry read for middle-grade readers (by which I mean, readers who read middle-grade) and who like a complex plot and some slightly creepy elements.

My rating: 3/5 stars

I received a free digital advanced review copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.