The islands of Chaldea

I was beyond thrilled to find that there was another, posthumous, DWJ book. Unfortunately, DWJ died before she could finish the book, and to me, it was very, very obvious where she'd left off and her sister had taken over. Most DWJ books have a twist-ending that is built on the seemingly irrelevant facts introduced earlier. In contrast, in The Islands, I found the tail-end rushed and flat. I think her sister found the half-finished manuscript and just tried to get it done as soon as possible. Even in DWJ's very young adult books, there's a sincerity and depth to the plot and character development and especially coming of age that just doesn't shine through in the Islands of Chaldea.

It's still a fun romp. In particular, I enjoyed the alternate history of the UK/Ireland feel. I thought the world-building felt relatively complete. The animals and child protagonists were cute.

Yeah, I don't have that much to say – it just felt shallow and unfinished.