Charming is the best word I can think of to describe this. And whimsical. It's definitely whimsical.

But it's also... It's hard to describe, really, or put my finger on exactly why, but I kept getting the feeling that there is satire hidden in here somewhere and I'm just not clever enough to identify it. Neither the satirical aspect, nor the things it means to poke fun at. It's entirely, totally possible (and probably most likely) that there just isn't any satire intended at all and it's all something I'm imagening. It's just a sort of vibe I get.

This was a great book to read through just after one I'd been struggling with and that had just been getting bleaker and bleaker as it built towards an unfulfilling ending. This was a book to lift the spirits.