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A review by nicktomjoe
The Dream Snatcher by Abi Elphinstone
4.0
A powerful story drawing on real Romany traditions, and set in a beech forest, this is a book full of dangerous exploits, half- understood relationships and family history. It's complex, but Abi Elphinstone works hard to bring it all to a satisfyingly Gothic final battle, with creatures formed from swarming bats, and horrendous, maggot-eaten faces.
Moll, the protagonist, finds something of who she is, discovers something of her place in her adoptive family. The relationship between Moll and Gryff the wildcat owes a lot to the bond between Lyra and her daemon Pantalaimon in Philip Pullman's masterpiece trilogy, and maybe wild Moll herself is drawn from Pullman's rebellious heroine, remade in a different context and for (perhaps) a younger audience with similar Pullmanesque tastes.
Moll, the protagonist, finds something of who she is, discovers something of her place in her adoptive family. The relationship between Moll and Gryff the wildcat owes a lot to the bond between Lyra and her daemon Pantalaimon in Philip Pullman's masterpiece trilogy, and maybe wild Moll herself is drawn from Pullman's rebellious heroine, remade in a different context and for (perhaps) a younger audience with similar Pullmanesque tastes.