Cedric Messina (1920–1993)

2.5 Stars

When I started reading this book, I didn't remember at all what is was going to be about. The story that soon spread out, left me quite confused.

It was night before Christmas on the estate of the writer of the famous poem. One by one all his grandchildren disappear when a secret is uncovered.

The first thing that confused me was the age range for the book, although after reading it completely, I've settled for Middle Grade. It doesn't fit perfectly but fits best as the story at times really is quite simple.

One thing that really stood out for me in this book was the lack of (correct) research that went into the book. Google Translate is not such an obscure tool and easy to use, I'd say. However, many times the author says things like 'this or that is the Dutch word for this or that'. But being Dutch, I noticed that in some cases the Dutch word wasn't correct. Usually there was just a small mistake, like maybe the ones made in haste, but I found it messy. An example, 'dunder' isn't the Dutch word for thunder, but 'donder' is.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!… (meer)