The most exciting debut in children's fiction since HARRY POTTER. Immersive, engaging, original; delightful in its details (a bun shop that serves as a portal to Otherworld; a library of Last Editions; a Princess School in which girls are trained to be appealing to dragons); playful, warm and yet thrilling, too -- JOANNE HARRIS

An entrancing novel that stands on its prose . . . set in a dystopian future after a massive quake has annihilated modern technology . . . She is far too inventive a writer ever to let us feel we've been here before * * Daily Telegraph * *

This tale of magical education is a cracker . . . has its own distinctive style * * Guardian * *

Superb fantasy ***** * * Sunday Telegraph * *

Lively, inventive, phrase-making fantasy . . . revels in evocative spells, names and descriptions of quaint shops, fabulous food and delicious interiors . . . has something of J.K. Rowling's capacity to delight * * Sunday Times * *

Otherworldly . . . 'Getting lost in a book' takes on new meaning * * Mail on Sunday * *

In this children's debut from adult fantasy writer Thomas, a young girl inherits a magical library and discovers you can - quite literally - become lost in a book . . . The first book in the Worldquake Sequence augurs well for what is to follow * * Sunday Post * *

Full of surprises . . . Spells. Wands. Portals. A child marked out for greatness . . . Effie and her friends, rugby-mad Wolf and swotty Max, are cooler and funnier than anyone at Hogwarts as they rush around trying to collect magical artefacts. In a plot turning on the theft of a library where the chief villain is a book dealer, the real magic, Thomas insists, lies in literature itself * * Financial Times * *

Will whisk you off on a spectacular adventure * * The Week * *

Deft and stylish . . . Packed with striking images . . . the exciting pace will make this a gleeful companion for many a young teen and upwards * * Literary Review * *

One of the best fantasy books in my lifetime -- Stuart Kelly * * Scotsman * *

In vivid, inviting prose, Thomas deftly evokes an original, intriguing post-technological Earth looming with evil where "books are magic" and memorable misfits become heroes. A compelling new fantasy series with an unlikely heroine, quirky helpers, dragons, portals, witches, and wizards * * Kirkus * *

An enthralling tale, set in a sprawling world that swallowed me whole -- Kiran Millwood Hargrave, author of THE GIRL OF INK & STARS

A magical adventure that fizzes and crackles with enchantment. I was absolutely bedazzled -- HILARY McKAY

Lovely fantasy . . . Manages to be both unusual and traditional simultaneously, as well as entirely gripping and beautifully written -- PHILIP WOMACK * * Books for Keeps, Books of the Year 2017 * *

Gorgeous and funny - and a lovely celebration of the magic of books! -- Helen Falconer, author of THE CHANGELING

PRAISE FOR OTHER BOOKS BY SCARLETT THOMAS: Ingenious and original. . . A cracking good yarn fizzing with intelligence -- PHILIP PULLMAN

Entrancing . . . one of the sharpest fantasies I've encountered -- NEIL GAIMAN