The Crooked Sixpence - Jennifer Bell

[goodreads]

Title: The Crooked Sixpence
Author: Jennifer Bell
Genre: Childrens, fantasy
Rating: 3/5
# pages: 384
Date read: October, 2020

When Ivy Sparrow’s grandmother Sylvie is rushed to hospital, Ivy and her annoying big brother Seb cannot imagine what lies in store for them. Returning to Sylvie’s house, they find it has been ransacked by unknown intruders – then a mysterious feather scratches an ominous message onto the kitchen wall, and a very strange policeman is determined to apprehend them . . . with a toilet brush. Ivy and Seb make their escape – only to find themselves in a completely uncommon world.

The forces of evil are closing in fast, and if Ivy and Seb are ever to see their parents again, they must get to the bottom of a family secret as shameful as it is incredible... before it’s too late.


After a false start or two, I finally got properly into this book at the most recent readathon, where it fit the bill perfectly. In genre and feel it reminded me a bit of "Un Lun Dun" by China Miéville (although not in plot at all). I liked it well enough, but found certain parts of it slightly too disjointed. Some things seemed to happen for the sake of plot, rather than because it made sense in the universe. I might feel differently on rereading it, as I now know the universe.