This was SO good. I didn’t expect to be so captured - the magic, the characters, the story was compelling and I didn’t even notice the page numbers go down.

I loved getting to know the twins - Rafferty and Juniper. The whole concept and idea of the magic in this magical world was so novel and greatly built. The world was so vivid and a beautiful setting for the book.

With magical inclinations set around the seasons, 13 years old go through testing to discover their predilection towards a certain season: spring, summer, autumn or winter. Occasionally however, an enchanter will emerge with the connection to all four. They are admitted to a special school to develop their skills which sees Juniper travelling to a new city away from all she has ever known.

Rafferty follows when he gets himself an apprenticeship but finds himself embroiled in mystery. He crosses paths with his sister and they find everything may be more connected than they ever could have thought.

I was absolutely hooked and was so sad to have finished it! This series is going to be absolutely brilliant and I can’t wait to rejoin the twins again on their adventures in Whetherwhy.

3,5 stars

I love the Pages & Co series by Anna James so I’m very grateful for getting this opportunity to honestly review the arc of her new book! Thank you HarperCollins UK, Children’s and NetGalley.

The cover and the illustrations inside by David Wyatt are gorgeous!

What I didn’t really found adding anything to the story, was that this started with a grandpa reading this story to a bunch of his grandchildren. And the story paused sometimes to just let the grandchildren ask some questions. We never get to know anything about any of them, apart from a few details and I didn’t like the interruptions so I think I would have preferred this not being a part of the book.

The actual story starts at Honeyvale, a small town where our main character Juniper Quinn lives with her wonderful family (I loved them!) who own a bookbindery.

Honeyvale is part of the Island Whetherwhy, which is hidden away from the rest of the world to protect itself and its magic.

Everyone in Whetherwhy has a little bit of magic, unless you are born as an enchanter like Juniper. Then you have a lot more magic (which comes from the power of the seasons and the island itself) and get the chance to study at Thistledown Academy.

Magic thieves and dark magical creatures made the trip to the academy pretty awful and scary (I found the humans more scary than the actual beasts :o). The tole this took on Juniper is pretty big which makes her first days at the academy pretty nerve wrecking.

Juniper’s twin brother Rafferty hates not living with his sister anymore and he starts as an apprentice at a bookbindery close to the academy but the people he works for are hiding something and not all the people at the academy are to be trusted either.

The Harry Potter and Frozen 2 vibes were definitely there but I think this story would have benefited from being longer because I would have liked it better if there were more (detailed) descriptions of the academy, certain events and some of the characters and the reason behind their intentions. I didn’t know how to feel about some of them.

Anna James has delivered another cracker !
The children adored reading this book , it certainly kept them all engrossed and their only complaint was that it was not longer / immediately followed by another book. A new classic.

After having loved the author’s Pages and Co series I was excited to see what she’s do next. And she has very much delivered. The Chronicles of Whetherwhy is a whimsical story of magic, friendship and family. I loved the seasonal aspect and can’t wait to see what’s going to happen next.