I remember reading this a while ago, and it's consistently tied in my mind to the little stream near where I grew up that had a bridge crossing over it. Like all of Frances' books, it sparks the imagination before leading it down dark and twisting alleyways. I absolutely adore how Frances portrays facing something so much bigger and magical and darker than yourself, and I really recommend all of her books.

I have a complicated relationship with Frances Hardinge's books. I usually love the synopsis and am so excited to read them and then end up not getting blown away and feeling a bit disappointed, and view them as simply ok not great like I want to. So I was surprised by much I enjoyed this book, especially when I put it through my cawpile spreadsheet and it came out at a four star. I think it was the characters that did it for on this one and how they subverted typical genre expectations. The annoying, timid girl character turns out to be the cleverest of them, the sidekick was the hero and the hero well he turns out to be something else. I also loved how it looked at the complexity of friendship and what it means. Another element I liked was the wishes and the discussion of the wish itself and how the wish isn't really what is wanted and the emotional need behind the wish, also the mythology of gods and saints and how one turns into the other. There is a bit of a slow start but once it gets going it's an enjoyable read.