I loved the sound of The Illustrated Child by Polly Crosby as soon as I heard about it so I was thrilled when I was kindly gifted an eARC by HQ via Netgalley. I was not disappointed. Intriguing, atmospheric and original, it hard to believe that this is a debut.

Romilly Kemp lives in a large dilapidated house with her artist father and her cat, Monty. When her dad starts to release a series of picture books with Romilly as the star, rumours of a treasure hunt hidden within its pages prompt a influx of tourists to their home and surrounding area, hoping that they’ll be the ones to solve the puzzle. Romilly is similarly intrigued, her attempts to discover the secrets hidden with the books aided by gifts given to her by her father on consecutive birthdays. As her father’s health declines she gets closer and closer to the devastating truth, as revelation after shocking revelation rock Romilly’s world.

This book was so much darker than I expected it to be; I was reminded of some of Susan Hill’s works, the whole novel having a similar kind of unsettling feel. The plot is complex and multi-layered, with a well-developed character in Romilly. It is clear from the beginning that her upbringing is far from easy, and as we progress through her teenage years she has more and more hurdles to negotiate. I wasn’t quite sure what to make of her relationship with her dad but it was obviously pretty complicated and there were times when my heart ached for her.

In parts it is quite a tough read as we see how mental health, dementia, loneliness and grief affect the Kemps over the years. I found that I made fairly slow progress through the first half of the book but felt that the pace picked up towards the middle and I absolutely raced through the last 100 pages!

I did manage to guess one of the big reveals quite early on so I feel as though the story didn’t have as strong an impact on me as it perhaps might otherwise have done. Nevertheless I did think it was a very cleverly written and unique book, one which I would recommend to fans of eerie, atmospheric literary fiction.

Poetic, dream like, dark at times.

The Illustrated Child is like no other novel that I have read before.

Slow in its pace, we follow Romilly and her father on their journey through a new chapter in their lives.

The dad, after losing his job turns to making books. The subject of them, his daughter.

A mystery begins as the first book (in what turns into a series) is released.

Readers believe that there is a hidden treasure hunt within, in a way they are right, but it isn't the sort of treasure that you can touch.

As the story progresses the mysteries deepen, clues for everyone - including us as the reader - are woven throughout the pages and the words.

Clever, charming and careful is how I'd describe this tale.

My interest was held throughout and I felt drawn in, needing to know what would happen and to who.

There are interesting twists and turns, one of which I guessed fairly early on, if you pay attention to the dialogue I'm sure you will too, but it didn't take away from the story at all..

The Illustrated Child is almost gothic in its nature but gentle in its telling

A story within a story, weaved together magically. Emotional and meaningful, it is one that I would happily re-read and perhaps even read as a class book at school.

This was a fun read and fast paced but with some lightness to it, I would recommend this if you want something light but that keeps you reading.

I had to DNF this book unfortunately. The plot was lacking and meandering and I couldn't care about any of the characters. I don't think the description and cover of this book accurately reflect the content. Also, after reading other reviews, I'm glad I've decided not to continue past 15% as multiple people have mentioned there being child abuse and cruelty to animals, which is something I can't accept in books.

The Illustrated Child is quite unlike anything I've read before. Gothic, macabre, surreal at times, it is also a mystery within a mystery.

Romilly Kemp lives a seemingly idyllic life with her father on a remote farmhouse, free to roam and have adventures without limits. Her father tells her wonderful stories and spends his days painting. He starts a series of books that are for, and about her. Captivating the public's imagination, people start to talk of the books containing secret clues leading to treasure. As Romilly gets older she starts to examine the books in minute detail, sure that the clues are for her.

But as Romilly's father descends into dementia, she is lost and alone, hungry and haunted by the past. Is her friend Stacey real, or conjured up by her mind ? Will Romilly solve the clues her father left for her? Can you ever find a place of warmth and safety again?

Beautifully poetic, dreamlike and heartbreakingly sad at times, this is a wonderful piece of literature that has depth and originality and heart.

This was a difficult review to write without giving too much away. I really enjoyed the book and it was far more complex than it appeared to be. Suffice it to say I really enjoyed it, and cared about the characters and what would happen to them, and had to read right to the end. However I did work out one of the main hidden premises in the book very early on, although this didn't detract from my enjoyment.

Romily Kemp lives with her father, who adores her. He moves them out to Braër House, a remote country house when she is 9. She lives a very solitary life, especially when she ends up leaving school to be home schooled, and becomes friends with Stacey who lives with her single mum, but occasionally goes to stay with her Grandmother so Romily doesn't see her then.

Romily's father Tobias is an artist, and paints pictures - mainly of Romily and her kitten Monty. Then Tobias decides to write a series of books about Romily and Monty, and illustrate them himself. It becomes obvious that the books are a treasure hunt, which fires the imagination of the readers and the books become best sellers, and Romily and Tobias' life is never the same. Treasure Hunters fnnd out where Braër House is located and come to dig to find the 'treasure'.

Tobias explains to Romily that not all treasure is money or gold, and that the treasure hunt is mainly for Romily. Will Romily be able to solve the treasure hunt with the help of some clues given to her each birthday? Will it be too late?

A very interesting, very clever story with a few twists in the tail, and one worth reading.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3559069972

Not really sure what to think about this one. I was expecting it to be a sort of whimsical mystery but actually it's very dark and just sad. I wasn't really a fan of all the symbolism and I feel like I just didn't really understand a lot of things (eg the panther, I don't have any clue what that was about). That being said, the story was still interesting and well written. I think the problem really is that it's not marketed as such a dark book and the themes of abuse could really upset someone who was not expecting this.

When she is 9 years old Romilly Kemp and her eccentric father move to a dilapidated farmhouse where her father writes a bestselling series of Children's books with Romilly as the star.
Fans from around the world are convinced that treasure can be found by following the clues within the books' pages, but as Romilly's father keeps saying - the treasure is not meant for them.
As Romilly's father begins to disappear from her, she sets out on a treasure hunt of her own, one that she hopes will finally give her the truth of her past.
The Illustrated Child by Polly Crosby is so compellingly written that I felt like I was riding a wave in a storm. It is at times, poetic and beautiful and at others surreal and unsettling. Trying to unpick the threads of the Kemps' past and figure out what is real and what is imagined is addictive and provides much of the momentum and emotional turmoil of a book which stunningly captures the pain of growing up and discovering who you are.

This is a complex book that has kept me thinking about it long after finishing. It would make an excellent book group read as there are many layers to the story and much to discuss. Romilly lives a lonely life with her father in a big ramshackle house that feeds her vivid imagination. Her father writes and illustrates a book based on Romilly and her adventures with her cat Monty and it becomes a huge success with people stalking them to find out clues to what they believe is treasure hidden in the pages. But behind this fairy tale facade, things are really really hard for Romilly and her life is desperately sad and lonely. The book does lead Romilly to discover hidden secrets and there are times of joy and magic but it is dark and unrelenting and troubled . Not what I thought it would be, but probably more. Still thinking about it.

The Illustrated Child by Polly Crosby

Romilly lives in a ramshackle house in the country with her father, Tobias and her cat, Monty. She spends her time running wild with her friend Stacey whilst Tobias is busy writing and illustrating a series of books with his daughter as the main character.

What begins as a whimsical, playful story evoking childhood memories quickly becomes much darker. Tobias’ books generate lots of interest in his family and home as people believe there are clues to hidden treasure within the pages; bringing mystery and danger to the plot. Romilly is definitely loved but also neglected, unschooled and lonely.

There are great twists in the story that I didn’t always see coming and Romilly as the narrator only becomes more and more unreliable, bringing a strange, hallucinatory feel to the novel.

I loved Romilly as a character; she is brave and wild and has a great imagination. There were moments when I wanted to run in and be with her. It’s a deeply emotional novel that deals with serious themes of mental health, dementia, neglect, child death and trauma.

It’s a dark fairy tale-esque story that is as disturbing as it is enchanting. It’s a fabulous debut and I look forward to more from Polly Crosby.

I did a super immersive read with this one; listening and reading, sometimes at the same time! The narration of the audiobook is good and well paced. The narrator has a very sweet voice which added to the whimsical, child like nature of the book.

Thanks to @netgalley, Harper Collins audio and HQ stories for my review copy.

This runs a fine balance between evocative and disturbing depending on your perspective. It tells of a somewhat wild child and her relationship with her artist father who immortalises her in a series of picture books. This could be a beautiful story of a free range childhood however I found it bleak and felt incredibly sorry for Romilly who was forever epitomised at nine years old on paper yet lost her childhood and gradually her father from that point. For me the contrast between the illustrated child and the real life neglected one made for uncomfortable reading.

Good grief this book 😭 I thought it would be a lighthearted one. Well it’s not, but it sure is thought provoking and emotional.✨

The lowdown👇
The story focuses on Romilly who lives with her eccentric artist father and her cat, Monty.🐱
When her father finds fame with a series of children’s books starring her as the main character, everything changes. New fancy food, her father appears on TV, 🤩 and strangers appear at their house, convinced the books contain a treasure hunt leading to a dazzling prize. As time passes, Romilly’s father becomes increasingly suspicious of everything around him, until, before her eyes, he begins to disappear altogether. As her world becomes more isolated, Romilly turns to the secrets hidden in his illustrated books, realising that there is something far darker and more devastating locked within the pages.📖

When I started, I had no clue what was going on.😂 I was intrigued by it all and Pollys writing was beautiful and imaginative. It read like a coming of age story, from childhood to adolescence; enchanting and whimsical. Then something shifted and the story took a darker turn.😬 By this point, I was eager to know what was going on as much as Romilly. I felt a connection to her and I wanted to discover the secrets hidden within her fathers books.👀

It covers a lot of subjects such as dementia, mental illness, death, grief, loss, neglect, and family relationships (just to name a few 😅) So as you can imagine, it’s not a light read. It was vivid, quite magical - as I couldn’t grasp what was real and what was imagination. I got big LANNY vibes with this book.😍That magical realism fused with literary fiction. LOVE that.😉It’s a complex story, quite mysterious and yet such an emotional rollercoaster.😭

An unforgettable and accomplished debut. A flipping debut!! I’m still thinking about this book and asking questions.🤔The more I think about it, the more I realise how much this book moved me.

“There was a finality about every picture, a reminder that life does not carry forever, that there always must be an ending.”

I'm not sure what to make of this book.

It's beautifully written. It's intriguing.and yet I initially found it a bit slow.

Young Romilly and her artist father Tobias live in an old farmhouse in the country surrounded by a moat. Just the two of them and Romilly's cat Monty.. She's basically allowed to run free and it sounds quite idyllic.

But things change when Tobias finds success with an illustrated book featuring Romilly and her kitten. This brings all sorts of problems. Treasure hunters and fans flock to their door in the belief that the book contains clues to hidden treasure. There are clues in the book and the ones that follow, but these are clues meant for Romilly.

Things get so bad that Tobias removes Romilly from school and keeps her at home. She does have one friend, Stacey, a rather wild child who comes and goes, and who also doesn't go to school.

The book gets darker as it progresses. Tobias' health deteriorates (he's eventually diagnosed with dementia) and Romilly, still young, has to try and look after both of them.she also goes in search of the clues and secrets her father has hidden for her in his books.

There is quite a lot to take in. To be honest I'm not sure if I really understood what the book was about. I can't make up my mind if Stacey was real or imagined. At times it seemed magical perhaps with some supernatural elements. Or was that just my imagination?

As I said, it's well written and beautifully described, and I did become quite intrigued but I don't feel I really 'got' it.It may be I will simply have to read the book again when I'm ready. I would give the book somewhere between 3 and 4 stars.

This book is very different from the norm and very unusual. It's very well written and you can identify with the struggles of the various characters . I really enjoyed it, especially with it not being a typical story and I would highly recommend it. Will look forward to reading more of Polly's books in the future.

BOOK REVIEW - The Illustrated Child by Polly Crosby 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Where do I begin. The poetic writing, the fascinating storyline, the intriguing mystery, the capturing characters? This book has it all!

I can’t go into the storyline much as don’t want to give away any spoilers, but I can give an introductory oversight. Romilly, lives with her spontaneous, quirky artist father, Tobias, in rural Suffolk. He creates a series of children’s books starring Romilly that captures the world as rumours emerge that there is a secret treasure hunt hidden within the pictures on the page. That is all I am saying about the plot!

The story is told through young Romilly’s viewpoint and you only see the world through her childish eyes. What she sees and understands matures as she does and this allows the reader to be a part of her trying to work out the mystery.

This however, is not a beautiful fairy tail or a whimsical adventure story. It is dark, atmospheric and sometimes chilling. It deals with haunting themes of death, loss, health, neglect and isolation. Sitting above this however it centres around a stunning relationship between a father and his daughter. The writing showing the relationship between them is moving.

The writing is some of the best I’ve ever read. Descriptive is an understatement, all my senses were engaged as Polly Crosby describes the house and surrounding countryside. I felt my heart racing in places, I was worried and scared for the characters and visually I could see every last detail.

I would highly recommend this book as a book club read, there are so many points to discuss.

Thank you to HQ stories and Polly Crosby for the opportunity to review this book ahead of its publication day. It’s a goodun’’!!

A compelling and dream-like tale of childhood, family and secrets.

Nine-year-old Romilly Kemp lives in an ancient, dilapidated farmhouse called Braër in Suffolk with her eccentric artist father Tobias and her cat, Monty. Life is simple, but Romilly is happy playing in the countryside with her cat and her friend Stacy, a wild girl who comes and goes as she pleases. When Tobias finds commercial success with a beautifully illustrated children’s book in which Romilly and Monty are the stars, life seems to only get better. However, as the success of the book grows, strangers begin to turn up at the house searching for Romilly’s “treasure”, an unknown quantity which is hinted at throughout the pages of the book. At the time when she needs him most, Romilly finds her father becoming more distant. She sets out to discover for herself what this “treasure” is - which leads her to the secrets of her dark past and the reason for her mother’s absence.

This was a very well-written story with some beautiful descriptions (particularly of the illustrated book itself) and a dreamy, almost gothic atmosphere that seeps through the pages and simultaneously gives the reader a feeling of both whimsical childlike magic and also a dark hint of danger and unease. Indeed, the title and initial pages set it up to be quite light-hearted, but in fact, this is quite a sad story which encroaches on some difficult and upsetting topics. Romilly herself is an endearing character, and as the story follows her from when she is a young child to the cusp of adulthood, we share her excitements, disappointments and fears as she experiences them, in a way that makes her extremely empathetic. The love she and Tobias share is incredibly well-portrayed, and the distance that begins to form between them as they grow older is heart-breaking in many ways. The twists that came at the end of the story were quite shocking and most unexpected, and the ending, although quite bleak in some ways, felt suitably hopeful without being artificially perfect.

As I have mentioned, the book was not what I expected, which while not a negative thing as such, may not be ideal for some readers. I did have some issues with the pacing, as the time jumps were quite random and did sometimes confuse me as to how old Romilly was and how much time had passed between events. There were also quite a few plot points that cropped up suddenly and then faded away just as quickly, not adding a lot to the overall story. Finally, the focus of the storytelling is definitely on Romilly and Tobias, meaning the personalities of the secondary characters are not as strong and sort of fade into the background.

In conclusion, this was an intriguing and unusual novel which was both very emotional and thought-provoking. The central characters were very memorable and felt as if they were real people, and I experienced a great deal of empathy for Romilly and her difficult life. I would recommend this to people who enjoy vivid descriptions and are looking for a story that will make them feel a variety of emotions. Still, the slightly bleak nature of the tale means it is not one for people who are easily depressed.

Daenerys


Elite Reviewing Group received a copy of this book to review.

A vivid narrative with a range of colourful characters, Romilly’s childhood is filled with laughter, adventure but also loss. The reader is invited to solve the mystery of her father’s books alongside the spirited protagonist and it’s a lovely adventure.

I could not decide what I thought of this book - it was slow to draw me in and left me slightly perplexed at the end.

Romilly lives with her dad in the middle of nowhere with her kitten, Monty. Her father writes 4 books about the two of them containing clues to a treasure. Romilly’s life as a teenager is defined by the book and readers’ reactions to it. She meets her mother again and grandmother but is aware of mysteries about her past. Her dad’s behaviour becomes increasingly erratic and eventually he is diagnosed with dementia.

During this time Romilly has one friend - Stacey - to help her make sense of her increasingly confusing world.

Eventually Romilly has to resolve the clues and find the treasure to find out about who she is.

An interesting book - I was surprised by the discoveries and was absorbed by Romilly’s character and her resolve to face her difficulties and come through.

This book is one of those that will stay with me for a long time.
What started as an adventure, filled with promise of treasure and excitement, soon turned to something unexpected and quite dark. Polly Crosby has a magical way of writing with evocative description that never feels clunky or over done.
Romilly and her father Tobias are both characters I could connect with, and the weaving in and out of the others was clever and thoughtful.
I am looking forward to what Polly Crosby writes next and I have already pre-ordered this so I can have the physical copy too.
Thank you so much to Netgalley and Polly Crosby for the ARC copy in return for my own review.

The Illustrated Child by Polly Crosby is a beautiful novel about love, exploration and discovering yourself. It is a very unique read and a fabulous debut novel.
The action begins in October 1987 – A date I remember well due to the infamous weather forecast by the BBC’s Michael Fish. We follow a young girl through her formative years.
There is a close relationship between the girl and her father. He immortalises her in his books but fame comes at a price. Their love is tangible and beautiful to witness.
Friendships are important too. We all need friends who will support us through life.
There is the difficult subject of dementia. I found this sentence heart-breaking: “Whatever happens, I’m still here. I’m still me, inside.”
The written books are very much a part of the story. Along with the character, we participate in a treasure hunt. We must decide what is real and what is imagined.
The Illustrated Child was totally unique, absolutely mesmerising and beautifully written. I look forward to many more books by the talented Polly Crosby.
I received this book for free. A favourable review was not required and all views expressed are my own.