The Book Of Lost Things - John Connolly

High in his attic bedroom, twelve year old David mourns the loss of his mother. He is angry and he is alone, with only the books on his shelf for company. But those books have started to whisper to him in the darkness, and as he takes refuge in the myths and fairytales so beloved to his dead mother he finds that the real world and the fantasy world have begun to meld. The Crooked Man has come, with his mocking smile and his enigmatic words: "Welcome, your majesty. All hail the new king."
And as war rages across Europe, David is violently propelled into a land that is both a construct of his imagination yet frighteningly real, a strange reflection of his own world composed of myths and stories, populated by wolves and worse-than-wolves, and ruled over by a faded king who keeps his secrets in a mysterious book....
The Book of Lost Things.

I adored this novel. It is a truly modern fairy story, dark, frequently violent and very witty. The contemporary take on age-old favourite fairy tales makes for both amusing and interesting reading, including a fat unpleasant Snow White and her communist dwarf companions. By using famous fairy tales and giving them a modern sting in the tale, Connolly has created an exciting, macabre Brothers Grimm type story that takes the reader through a rollercaoster of emotions.
I loved the way John Connolly deals with the issues surrounding step-families and the rivalry, anger, and even hatred that children can feel at being thrown into a new family. I felt that this was hugely clever, especially considering the incidences of evil step parents in so many of our beloved fairy tales.
The novel is surely an adult read, its violence and references to matters of a sexual nature (including homosexuality and bestiality!) would make it unsuitable for younger readers, although for teenagers it would make a thrilling read. I'm sure my teenage son would love it (if he can ever be bovvered to read a book again!)
I loved David, and symapthised with him, especially at the start of the book, as he describes the rituals he believed may keep his mother alive, clearly a manifestaion of obssessive compulsive disorder (which Connolly himself suffered with as a teen).
The ending is very moving and I was sad to finish such a pure delight of a book!