Not that I wanted the mother to be dead! Except I sort of wanted the mother to be dead.

I think what bothered me – because I love a fairytaley story, usually – was that there was this sciencey bit to it, but it wasn’t vague enough to be magical, and it wasn’t specific enough to be sciencey. I expect I would have liked it better if the kits had been passed down through a few generations, so that Sloe and her mother didn’t exactly know the science behind them. And had to have it explained briefly and in fragments, throughout the book. I did enjoy it, but I bet I could have enjoyed it more.