Teresa Flavin

The blurb states: "Recommended for lovers of mythology and monsters, mystery and magic." Totally not my style. In most cases I would have passed over it without a second though. I'm so glad I didn't.

This book was easy to fall right into, just as Dean and Sunni "fall" into a painting and get wrapped up in adventures there as they try to find their way back. The story is full of imagination and, yes, "mystery and magic", but it somehow manages to stay within the realms of realism as well. You almost expect that if you could find Blackhope Castle and the magic labyrinth you would be able to find Arcadia, the idealistic land within the painting, as well.

Score one for not following my reading instincts and going outside my usual genre interest!

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Two teenagers walk through a seemingly painted door and land in the past.
It's just so far-fetched, and certainly not what I would typically be interested in. But author Teresa Flavin makes it work. Her descriptions of two modern teens trying to survive amid 1700s London sounds, dare I say it, rational. Just as in the first installment of this series (The Blackhope Enigma), Flavin writes so vividly that you think if you could just find that door, you could step through it as well. I think I have a new favorite author!
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