If you are looking for an easy summer read with a straight forward plot and an ending that's tied up in a bow, this is not the book for you. But if you're looking for a new take on old fairy tales, incredibly forward reading but sometimes ancient feeling writing, this is a …more wonderful experience. I am often moved by a new way of writing and not just a new story, and this book provides just that. There are somewhat familiar fairy tale elements (a gingerbread recipe, a changeling, absent fathers, a girl named Gretel, a well), but these are juxtaposed with text messages, PTA politics, studying for college entrance exams, pregnancy tests, real estate purchases and the question of nationhood. It's a strangely sweet, sometimes umami melange of styles and tropes with some unforgettable characters and writing that just leaves you breathless. (less)