Dorothy And The Glass Key by Christopher J Finn

Starting in a privately operated Mental Health Facility, the book initially introduces us to the administrator, Ellen, who is dismayed to have her peaceful Monday shattered by the wealthy Ragesh Dutta and his ward, Dorothy.  Taking over a suite of rooms Ellen is shocked to find all the furnishings and decor removed from the room and, even more shocked to find out that Ragesh seems to insist that Dorothy and he were 14 year olds together when it is quite clear that there is a huge age gap between them.  Still, this is a wealthy man who is willing to pay for their facilities so Ellen feels like she has no option but to sit and listen to Dorothy's story, as best as Ragesh can tell it.

I felt this was a strong opening to the book and it really sucked me in to the world that the author was creating.  However, once Ragesh begins his tale to Ellen Dorothy's voice takes over and the bulk of the story is about how Dorothy ended up in a persistent vegetative state.  There is a lot of woe-is-me teenage angst, stubborness and complete inability to see past her own needs and wants - in short, Mr Finn perfectly captures the average 14 year old.  The problem for me was that whilst I could empathise with her situation (alcoholic father and dead mother) I never felt that I could actually like her and as the bulk of the book is told by, and about, her this is a bit of a problem.

The idea of a key that can unlock another world is a good one and provided a good parallel to how a fantasy life (be it experienced through books, film, video games, or just good old imagination) can be of benefit.  Initially the key world provides Dorothy with the solace she doesn't get in her daily existence and as she meets Charlie and Ragesh they become the Three Key Children and provide each other with the support they need to get through the horrors (real and imagined) of their daily lives.  In fact, compared to Charlie and Ragesh Dorothy really has it easy.  Exploring the world by combining their keys in different configurations was a great idea and although a lot of these worlds are visited only briefly the reader is given a decent enough overview of the children's experiences.

The problems really only came for me in the second half of the book with the introduction of The Spintwister.  Whether it was just me I'm not sure but it all seems to get very confused and the narrative begins to jump all over the place for much of the second portion of the book.  As an ogre like figure I understand the point of The Spintwister but rather than add to the narrative he just interrupted it.  The author does manage to pull it back together by the end of the book and the reveal has a nice twist to it that I didn't see coming.

To be honest, now I have read it once I have a suspicion that a second read through would be far more enjoyable.  As a debut novel this is a fresh story that does entertain it just gets itself muddled part way through.

THIS IS AN HONEST REVIEW OF A FREE COPY OF THE BOOK SUPPLIED VIA THE AUTHOR.