This was certainly an interesting way to tell a story. It was an interesting way for Elsa's grandmother to share her story - and bring people together. Elsa had been living in the same house with all of these other people, whom she knew only peripherally. I have to admit that I was not a huge fan of the Land-of-Almost-Awake stories initially. I had no idea what she was talking about and I had a hard time caring. That type of "fantasy" is outside my area of interest! Although I very much love Harry Potter, which is also fantasy.... I had a difficult time understanding the stories and how they related to Elsa. Once Elsa starts figuring out that the characters in the Land-of-Almost-Awake are actually people she knows, the story got more interesting for me. I loved how Elsa found out how each person in the building came to live at the building - and how they were all connected with her grandmother and/or each other.
The realistic part of my brain had to be switched off while reading because certain things kept bothering me, like Elsa feeding chocolate to the wurse (which we all know is deadly to dogs!); Elsa's dad dropping her at the house when mom was working at the hospital (she is only 7 years old!); sleeping in the wardrobe with the boy with the syndrome and the wurse (what a large wardrobe!); taking off across town on her own after her grandmother's funeral (again, only 7!) I can read an entire fantasy series and not be bothered about things like I was when reading this! Oh, and I hate the word "wurse"! All of the other titles of the characters and names of the kingdoms had meaning - and related to grandmother's life story. So what's up with "wurse"? What does that even mean??
There were definitely some sad life stories that brought this group of people together, and none of them had even started the process of healing. Wolfheart & Sam; Britt-Marie/Ken/Alf; Maud & Lennart/boy with the syndrome & mother; the woman in the black skirt, aka the drunk. Elsa didn't exactly get her "happy ending" at the end, but it was nice to see these broken people start the healing process.
I didn't initially think that Elsa had a disability. I thought she was simply precocious. Then when her principal made a comment about her special needs (I can't remember the exact phrase he used), I realized she had a disability. Then I thought she was probably on the autism spectrum, on the Aspergers side of the spectrum. What threw me off was Sam mistaking Elsa for the boy with the syndrome. I assumed he had Down Syndrome, so when Sam mistook Elsa for his son, I thought maybe they both had Down Syndrome.... Anyway, I guess it doesn't matter, but I loved how Elsa's grandmother celebrated Elsa's "differentness".
I liked the message this book conveys. I even got teary-eyed a couple of times at the end. I didn't like the book as much as A Man Called Ove though. I thought that one was more charming and more humorous, despite the sadness in Ove's life.
Wendy's Rating: ***1/2
