The Toadhouse Trilogy: Book One by Jess Lourey is an adventure for readers. If you’ve ever wanted to hop into stories like they were real worlds, pick this one up. Aine and her brother Spenser don’t realize it, but they are living in a book. And they have an adventure awaiting them that takes them to places like The Time Machine and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

The Toadhouse Trilogy Book One by Jess Lourey book cover

This book was so refreshing. It completely swept me away and didn’t let up until the very end. It was never too easy for the characters (which I find happening a lot in adventure/fantasy fiction). As the characters travel through the books, Jess comments and analyzes the stories but without making it feel like an essay. She simply points out things that one would not typically notice, like how Mr. Hyde looks like each person’s worst nightmare and that is what makes him ugly.

I had disappointments. We never find out which book they begin in (though a hint is mentioned in the back of the book). The narrator jumps from character to character when it is not truly an omniscient narrator. The ending seemed a tad bit deflated, only because the object they were searching for was not something that was planted early on in the story or was a well-known object from a well-known story so that the reader could employ a bit of detective work.

All in all, I loved this one. I can’t wait to see the next two.

I received this book from the author for review.