Review: The Whisperwicks: The Labyrinth of Lost and Found

The Whisperwicks: The Labyrinth of Lost and Found is a stunning, dark epic fantasy that swept me into an unforgettable quest in a richly imagined world with two incredibly brave children, hoping to find what they have lost.

Eleven-year-old Benjamiah Creek loves reading factual books and believes in science and logic.   But everything he believes in is challenged when he is sent a strange doll – a poppet which transforms into a capuchin monkey, a dormouse and a nightjar.  When he follows the nightjar into the cellar of the Once Upon a Time bookshop, he steps through a door into another bookshop … and another world … Wreathenwold, a place where everyone carries a poppet doll at their waist – and a place where magic most definitely exists.

Soon finding himself at the mercy of the Hanged Men (the law enforcers) Benjamiah gets help from Hansel who is searching for his missing son. He takes him to his bookshop, Follynook, where he meets his daughter, Elizabella, who is far from welcoming, feeling the pain and loss of her missing twin.

When Benjamiah discovers Elizabella leaving her home, determined to find her missing brother, Edwid, he goes with her, leaving a promise to her father that he will return the siblings to their home, but is it a promise he can keep?

And so begins the most breath-taking, page-turner of an adventure that swept me into a world I absolutely did not want to leave.  I was completely captivated as I journeyed with Benjamiah and Elizabella as they seek the whisperwicks left by Edwid which they hope will lead them to him.  This is an adventure where darkness and danger lurk, where secrets unfold, and where unexpected revelations will astound.     

The world-building is just phenomenal from the labyrinthine streets of Wreathenwold where straying too far from home has devastating consequences to the magic system where poppets transform to animal friends, to the Hanged Men who enforce the law on behalf of the monster at its centre.  I really enjoyed learning about the history of Wreathenwold at the start of each chapter which helped me understand its magic, its dangers and its secrets.

This is a story that does not shy away from exploring darkness and there are definitely some frightening scenes, characters and concepts, but there is also hope, goodness and friendship as Benjamiah and Elizabella work together to discover the truth alongside their magical friends.  I think this is a world that readers really need to discover for themselves and I have no doubt they will be left utterly spellbound, and just the right amount of scared. 

To read, to be curious, is the most astonishing kind of magic.

I loved the way magic is portrayed in this story:  the magic of friendship, of family and of books and libraries alongside a magic that is given to those of Wreathenwold at birth held within the poppet dolls.

Benjamiah and Elizabella are both incredibly sympathetic protagonists who are both lost and in need of friendship and support which they find in each other and their poppets.  They show incredible courage and determination in facing frightening and dangerous situations and in dealing with difficult truths.  Benjamiah can see the pain and fear Elizabella has over her missing brother and wants to help her before finding his own way home, but Elizabella struggles to accept his friendship in the face of her all-consuming loss and single-minded determination to find her beloved brother.  The genuine friendship that develops between them is just gorgeous – and magical!

This is a stunning, magical epic fantasy that I cannot recommend highly enough:  a guaranteed Book of the Year for me, and perfect for young adventurers of 9+.

Thank you to Toppsta and Puffin Books for a copy in exchange for my honest opinion.