3.5/5

The story starts off in such an interesting way as Mouse attempts to wrangle the mess left behind by her grandmother. I really liked the setup, the buildup of the house being slowly cleaned up and organized and small oddities that started happening over the days that she spent there.

I think her dog also brought a fun humor to the story and kept things grounded throughout. He was certainly not the smartest dog but definitely full of charm!

I think the notes left behind by her grandfather were one of the best parts. It felt real as he struggled to remember all the details of what he had learned. I wish there was more to this than was written. I had really hoped the Green Book was found, or at least pages of it to fill in more blanks. There was just so much that was unanswered even by the end that I had really wanted to know more about.

It was frustrating to be taken into such a cool magical space only to have none of your questions answered. I really liked the buildup of the story but the final 1/4 was just a bit disappointing. It felt rushed and I just wanted to stay there longer to understand and learn more. The premise was solid but the execution just didn’t quite work as well.

It was also rather odd that so many people seemed to be actually aware of the odd beings in the woods and did nothing about them. Not just in the neighborhood but apparently in other countries and cities. It felt less special in that sense that apparently it was common and yet not talked about. This just didn’t feel right.

Overall I enjoyed the buildup and the creeping factor that slowly came. However the ending felt too fast and just didn’t live up to the tension that was setup and fell flat for me. I just wish there was more time to build the world and the story and actually answer the questions that came out of the mystery.