This is one of those books that's a deceptively easy read while full of heavy themes: war, hate, difficult parent-child relationships, adolescence. Some chapters were just plain fairy-tale fun, while others were quite grim, and it's all pulled together cohesively.

The last few chapters are a gut-punch, and the one sour note for me is that the twist towards the end makes some of the earlier parts of the book feel like a con.