Dying in an accident is only the beginning of the journey for 12-year-old Eleanor Newton. A mysterious boatman takes her to the other world and she starts her "afterlife" at Eventide House. Days at that boarding school of sorts seems to always be sunny and warm but very strange things have also been happening and Ellie knows something is wrong. She wants only one things: to get back to the world of The Living and meet her new baby brother. Can she really find a way to make the journey back?

I really loved this story. For one thing, it's the first children's book I've read that talks about the Covid pandemic and the loss and pain so many children have gone through: loosing a family member and not being able to say goodbye. The pandemic has been a huge part of so many children's lives and I'm glad to see it being acknowledged in a book like The Lovely Dark. I think that many adults, many writers, would like to forget about it but I don't think we can pretend that it never happened (thinking of my 11 year-old - this was more than a quarter of her life. Trying to bury this part of our lives feels like trying to bury part of "her" life).
Besides this, The Lovely Dark is a wonderfully poetic, tender, and also exciting, imaginary glimpse into the afterlife. The characters are engaging and the story grips you from the start. A great, original and emotional read.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐁𝐲 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐰 𝐅𝐨𝐱
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝟒 ⭐️
𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧’𝐬 𝐅𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧
𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫: 𝐉𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑
𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐟 𝐒𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬: 𝘈 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱, 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴.

Wow, what a beautifully breathtaking childrens book. For children aged 9+ at around 263 pages. This will bring a tear to your eye.

I don’t want to go into specifics as I think this is a book that you should go into blind, however I really loved the Greek mythology throughout and that it was set after the Coronavirus Pandemic and what effects that had.

The friendships in this are beautifully built and I wanted to help Eleanor and Justin.

I would have read something like this when I was younger and I think it’s a great easy book for children, nice short chapters that end on cliff hangers and keeps suspense, this is ideal for those that want to learn about Greek mythology.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗗𝗮𝗿𝗸 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝟲𝘁𝗵 𝗝𝘂𝗹𝘆 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯.

𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸𝘀 𝘀𝗼 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝘁𝗼 𝗡𝗲𝘁𝗴𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗛𝗼𝗱𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗻’𝘀 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 arc!

This is the second book I have read by Matthew Fox and I enjoyed it even more than the first. A story about premature death and friendship, this book will bring a tear to your eye! I enjoyed the inclusion of current events (COVID) and the myths that Justin spoke about. I am not going to give any of the plot away, as I went into this without having read the blurb, and don’t want to spoil it for anyone. I am definitely keeping an eye out for Matthew’s next book and have this on pre-order so I can add the physical copy to my shelf. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the chance to read this book.

'The Lovely Dark' is a story about two friends, who after being swept away by a freak flood in the underground, travel by river to an 'other world'. There, they are separated with one of them ending up in a strange school called Eventide House. There are lots of allusions to the fact that this may be some sort of afterlife throughout. All is made clear in the end.

I appreciate the amount of time and passion and love that goes into most books by their authors and so I'm reluctant to give bad reviews, knowing how hard authors have worked on their books. However, I did not enjoy reading this book at all. They style of writing was very simplistic for the majority of the time, with multiple 'and thens' in a lot of sentences. Times when description could have used, it wasn't so it lacked the building up of tension, even those momentarily ones. Speech was often very formulaic with repeated speech verbs used in each lot of speech, almost almost said. Maybe the author wanted this simplistic style of writing, with little character development or building up of tension. Perhaps its their writing style. Either way, it just wasn't for me.

In terms of the plot, there were lots of ideas, such as the stories being keys, Eurydice, Orpheus and the Underworld, the multiple 'other places', but none were fully formed. Basically, this book read like a first draft, to me anyway! These are obviously my opinions and others may love this story and the style in which it is told.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder Children's Books for allowing me to read an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

I was absolutely spellbound by The Sky Over Rebecca and thus could not wait to read Matthew Fox’s latest offering, The Lovely Dark. Whilst it’s a very different style of book, I was delighted to find that Fox’s magic remains and I was captivated from beginning to end.

As with his previous book, Fox has managed to create something entirely different to anything I’ve read before. The Lovely Dark is entirely unique, unpredictable and thought-provoking from beginning to end. I loved the protagonist, Eleanor - what a great lead character! I absolutely sobbed whilst reading this book - it really did pull on the heartstrings.

The Lovely Dark is a truly beautiful and thought-provoking book, which would be a great addition to any bookshelf in Year 6 and above.

This was a really nice read and an interesting concept of the afterlife. I wasn’t expecting the ending and there was parts that brought a tear to my eye.

The story follows Ellie and her best friend on a trip through the ‘afterlife’ and when Ellie susses that something isn’t quite right I was routing for her to be able to get either back to the world of the living or out of this ‘in-between’.

Overall I enjoyed this book, I didn’t want to put it down and it tugged on my heartstrings.

Ellie and her friend and neighbour Justin have emerged from the covid pandemic scathed by the restrictions of lockdown, and importantly by deaths in their families. Having been close to her Grandmother, Ellie was very affected by her death, alone with no family allowed. Now, she is looking forward to getting her life back and the birth of a new sibling.
Justin loves information and is very knowledgeable about myths, although neither can understand why Orpheus looked back when reclaiming his love when all he had to do was to wait a little longer. They decide to visit a local mosaic, but whilst underground a dreadful accident occurs. Both children find themselves in the underworld, but on different paths. Both want to save the other and Ellie must work out what to do to try to achieve this.
A beautiful story of the effects the pandemic had on people and our hopes for the future.

The Lovely Dark is a beautiful and engaging novel about a young girl who's thrown into one of the worst scenarios imaginable and never loses hope. I found this fast-paced adventure gripping and unique, so I was always eager to return to it and discover what would happen next. This was also the fist 'pandemic novel' I thoroughly enjoyed, as I found it gave a realistic portrayal of the devastation caused by the pandemic while still comfortably fitting the topic into the unique world of fiction. The Lovely Dark achieved a personal perspective of the Covid 19 tragedies by balancing its physical consequences like the death of a loved one with social consequences such as isolation and struggling to make friends. It also described Greek mythology in a very accessible way, as well as discussing more mature issues in a suitable yet impactful manner. Overall, I would definitely recommend this beautiful book and am excited to see what Matthew Fox releases next.

The Lovely Dark is a very special book that handles premature death sensitively.
Ellie and her friend Justin visit an uncovered Roman mosaic when they are involved in a devastating accident. Both children find themselves in the Underworld on two completely different journeys. Told from Ellie's perspective, The Lovely Dark discusses, friendship, love, and death and Ellie's personal struggle to figure out what has and is happening to her.

Its a poignant, emotional novel and I loved it.