Rewritten – Tara Gilboy

“The problem with real memories, Gracie thought, was that they had actually happened.”

I enjoyed 2018’s Unwritten, about a girl who discovers that she’s a character from a book, escaped into the real world with her parents, but now having ‘glimmers’ of the story written for her. I wasn’t wholly expecting a sequel, but it works: there’s still a lot of aftermath to deal with from such a revelation, and Gracie’s attempts at a normal life might not go as smoothly as she hoped.

Indeed, her ‘normal’ life is less happy than any of us would want, especially with the constant suspicion over her former ‘villain’ status. She’s not the only one: the author of Gracie’s book, Gertrude Winters, is appalled that her writing lead to such misery – and worried that her other, unpublished, stories might have similar consequences. And when Gracie flicks through some of the pages, it’s not just her own story she’s having glimmers about…

This was a nice, easy read, just what the current times call for. It’s still got its moments of darkness, but Gracie learns a lot about herself and her purpose, and about her friends. It’s perhaps a little heavy on her inner woes, with other characters appearing a little flat or pantomine-ish (Cassandra), but overall the story works well.

There were many hints that there could be further adventures for Gracie et al – I kept forgetting this was a children’s book, and quite short, and thus kept expecting her to go into one of the other stories. I’ll be looking out for those adventures!

NetGalley eARC: 200 pages / 22 chapters

First published: 7th April 2020
Series: Unwritten book 2
Read from 15th-20th March 2020

My rating: 8/10