A review by ohsarajay
Cart and Cwidder by Diana Wynne Jones

adventurous emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

It's like if a fantasy spy thriller was happening in a garden and this book was set on the porch next to it. Many exciting and tragic things happen but we're slightly removed from them because we mostly live in the perspective of an eleven-year-old who spends a lot of the book learning a skill and learning about himself in the process. That doesn't mean I was less invested - Jones has a knack for writing relationships that are complex and human and yet also slightly absurd. And the tragedy comes through - Moril may be straddling two worlds but he feels things deeply and vividly. When

Clennen died

I nearly wept with him, to say nothing of

Olob

. It does feel a little bit like this book is intended to set up later books in the series, so it's a bit more slowly paced than other DWJ books, and it feels like less payoff at the end than I'd hope for. As ever the worldbuilding is great.