One reaction was that it was like watching a literary idea evolve - well, a storytelling idea, as this novel is more about getting the action down than being about good writing. But don't let that put you off, if you'd like a bit of Hunger Games type genre, give it a shot. And don't let the 2016 movie and its mixed reviews put you off. I was told by a table of close relatives who have read/seen both, that the book is better.
There's an interesting interview with Ransom Riggs at the end, opening with the totally predictable - "Did the photos or the story idea come first?" Answer is (as I suspected) the photos, collected up by Riggs and some geeky mates from Op Shops, Markets, and rubbish bins(!) over a period, and as Riggs went through the slowly increasing horde (he claims about 100,000 passed through his hands), the odd ones of children stirred his imagination and he started sketching out story ideas that fitted, and this book is the outcome.
I was marvelling at the whole unique idea this morning, and it occurred to me that it was a very similar thing back in 2008 when I did that Explorer Bear picture book epic for Smudge, when she was 7. Maybe Riggs saw that online? Gave him the idea? (Yeah - right!!) Ah, ya never know.
Cheers....
T.R.E.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>