Review: The Thickety: A Path Begins by J. A. White

I have been meaning to read this book ever since I got it via Edelweiss back in November. I requested it because I loved the cover. And I thought it sounded amazing. But then I never started it. I don't know why. And to be honest, I wasn't planning on reading it now either. But then I wondered. It could be amazing. So I started it today. And I could not stop reading. This book was very amazing.

I'm so glad I decided to give The Thickety a try. Because it was very much a book for me. And I loved the writing. I found the writing to be all kinds of amazing. Which is always a plus, lol. And the characters. Sigh. I cannot. They were perfect. Perfectly kind and perfectly evil. Often both. There is some adventure in this book, but not that much.

But that was okay. Because most of this book focus on the life of Kara. And oh. It was amazing to read about. The book is told from her point of view, and she is a twelve year old girl. I adored her. She's so strong. Yet also a bit broken. She has to deal with so much. It broke my heart. Yet she still manages to be amazing. Sigh. Her younger brother Taff, at age 7, is also adorable. I loved reading about him. But sniffs. He is sick a lot. That was just so cruel, in a way. But he's also so much fun. I loved him a lot, yeah. And I loved their relationship. They are great together. But they don't have it good. Their mom is dead. Their dad is just.. not all there. They don't have much money, so they are starving most of the time. So sad.

Their mom was killed when Kara was very young. She was killed for being a witch. And for murdering a few people. Kara has always wanted to know what really happened. And in this book we find out. It was pretty sad and heartbreaking yet also so amazing to read about. I wish we had seen more of her mother, as I think she would be interesting to read about. But yeah. She was killed. And ever since people have been cruel to Kara. Accusing her of being a witch too. They are so mean to her. It broke my heart.

This book was just very real. We see how Kara struggles. How she wishes that the people living on their very small island was kinder. How she keeps trying to talk to them all. But yeah. They are not kind. Though, it is explained a little in the book, so I can't totally hate them for it. Sort of. But there is Grace. She was just.. not a nice girl. I hated her. She was the worst to Kara. She did so many mean things. I felt a little sorry for her, but mostly I just disliked her. And the poor Simon. Him I felt bad for. Sigh.

But then there is Lucas. Sigh. How I wish we could have seen more of him. He is a true friend to Kara. And I loved their friendship so so much. I need more of it. I need more of Lucas. And yeah. This is a middle grade book. I still want a romance, lol. They would be perfect for that. Sigh. Even just a really small one. But yeah. They are amazing friends and I loved that. This book is mostly about Kara, though. About her life. And about magic. About being a witch. It was all kinds of amazing to read about.

I don't want to say too much about the plot. But yeah. It has some magic. Not too much, yet not enough. I loved reading about it, as I found it very interesting. Then there is the Thickety. The forest. Where a lot of awful things are. We don't get to see enough about the forest. It has a small part in this book. But I didn't mind. Because I was too busy loving Kara and Taff and Lucas, lol. They were just really awesome to read about. Sigh. And I loved the plot as well. And a few other characters. Mostly, I loved all of it.

I've decided to give this book five stars. Because I really loved it. And I want more. So much more. The ending is pretty evil and ends with a cliffhanger. I need the sequel now, please :) I cannot wait to read what happens next. But I felt like the book was too short, in a way. Felt like I read it so fast. My eARC was 216 pages, and it says the hardcover is 496 pages. I'm not sure if that is correct. Hmm. But I think it is. I suppose that this book was just really easy for me to read; since it was so amazing, hih. <3

Anyway. Huge thank you to Katherine Tegen Books / HarperCollins for the auto-approval on Edelweiss that made me able to read and review The Thickety: A Path Begins early. <3 I'm so glad that I finally read it. And I need to own my own copy. Sigh. This book was just beautiful. I loved it so. And I think you all need to read it as well. It will make you think. And smile. And almost cry. It's beautiful. Go order it.

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Update: Newer and better review of the book can be found here.