Title Feedback is about being abandoned and alone. Thirteen-year-old Joe’s world is shattered when he enters a deserted council house and becomes trapped within a labyrinth protecting the last magical places on earth.

He discovers a book charting this immense no-man’s land, without time or place, its thirteen doors each leading to a different realm. Hunted by sinister foes, the boy is forced ever deeper into both the maze and the mystery of his missing parents. What will he find at the labyrinth's centre, and can it reunite him with the family he so desperately needs?

I tried reading this book and I just could not get into it, so I decided to put it down as I really do not think it will be my cup of tea. I would prefer not to give it a rating as I didn't finish, but netgalley is making me, so that is why it is one star

The story begins with a lost and scared little boy whose parents have disappeared, who needs to take mysterious medicine every 13 hours and who is living in an abandoned American school bus on a wooded roundabout. Running from some mysterious pursuers he falls by accident into a magical labyrinth through a dilapidated council house where he is hiding. There he meets Gunner, a scarily violent teenager who forces him into the labyrinth, So far so good and the story hooks the reader in effectively. However the narrative begins to wander as much as the labyrinth it is based upon - it is never quite clear what the whole point of the labyrinth is and what purpose it really serves. The idea that rooms in particular periods and locations across the world serve as the labyrinth is also a little confused especially as he has to retrace his steps, returning to some of the earlier rooms as he traverses the labyrinth. There are lots of atmospheric scenes and interesting characters such as Serene but the narrative meanders too much and needed to be more sharply focussed. The idea of a period circus that travels across time was also another distraction. There were lots of ideas in this story and references to old fairytales, archetypes and mythologies with a dose of Alan Garner's Elidor thrown but somehow it didnt't quite come together as coherently as it might have done.

TW: this book contains references to incest and rape

2.5 Stars

This book was... a lot.

I really liked the premise of it (I think the fact that Talliston is a real house is really fun) and the idea of the doors connecting the realms of magic was really fun.I am all for the idea of the magic being within you and someone having to go on a journey to realise how much of a badass they are. The premise of this book is wonderful and I was so excited to get approved to read an arc. But there is just so much happening in this book that it became hard to discern what details are important and what truly has happened. I feel like I've missed something as while I understand the ending I think it is a bit of a waste and there are so many unresolved questions (to me anyways) about who lived and who died.

The one thing that really got to me was how badly this book needed sensitivity readers. The first PoC in the book occurs 1/4 of the way through and they are a black woman that hexes someone and then dies. The later PoC and their cultures seem to be written by someone who has a desire to do them justice but perhaps does not have the language to do so. In the book the narration says things like "savages in the woods," "Orientals" and other terms that should really not be used at all but especially by white people and especially without a commentary that these words aren't okay. I feel like this book is really lacking in positive diversity that does not personify tropes and also female characters that aren't either evil or nurturing figures. I also felt that the rape and incest references were totally unnecessary and really should not have been there as they do not add to the story and the relationship could have been defined without it. I'm sure it was not the intention of the author to reduce women and PoC as caricatures but this was what tended to happen.

I think the ideas are there and the writing style is engaging but there were too many problematic elements and too many nonsensical (and not in an Alice in Wonderland way) points for me to truly enjoy this book. I'm sure the author had the best of intentions but I think perhaps they got a bit skewed.

*3.5 stars.

There were so many elements to this story that I enjoyed and the premise had me interested straight away, I'm always intrigued by anything that contains time-travel and magical elements. It's a classic fantasy story in many ways with a very reluctant hero at it's core that is simply trying to find his way home to his family and accidentally gets caught up in this magical adventure.

This story takes you from Norway in 1986 to a futuristic Japan and I loved being able to explore these different points of time with Joe. You can tell a lot of research and care went into the descriptions of each new section of the labyrinth and it was fun to see how each part overlapped and connected with each other. I never knew when or where we'd be exploring next or what new questions would be asked.

There were a few plot twists thrown in that I definitely wasn't expecting and I really enjoyed how the story came full circle towards the end. I will admit, I thought that some sections of the book felt more rushed then others and I got incredibly confused on more then a couple of occasions. It did jump around a lot between the different sections and I found I had to bookmark the beginning of each chapter which tells you where you are in the labyrinth as well as the date and the country you're in. I kept having to flick back and forth to remind myself of what had already happened to understand what was happening now. I think that did take some of the enjoyment out of the experience for me as things got very complex and a little hard to follow as we progressed further into the labyrinth.

Overall, whilst at times I struggled with following the plots timeline, this is still an incredibly fun book which I think YA readers will really enjoy. It's got really great fantastical elements with a weaving storyline that keeps you on your toes and is just a fun time-travel adventure for all ages.

This was an interesting premise and I was really wanting to enjoy this, but unfortunately the writing felt all over the place and I struggled to remain connected or interested, a shame as with a little work this could be really good

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

I liked the tale of Joe Darkin, on the run with his family, who stumbles on a secret labyrinth that can travel through time and space. I loved the different settings, ranging from Victorian England to futuristic Japan and the growth that the main character went through.
The writing style didn't convinced me at all: I struggled to reach the end of the book, getting often bored. A pity, because the story is very interesting!