Synopsis:
Oscar winning writer-director Guillermo del Toro and New York Times bestselling author Cornelia Funke have come together to transform del Toro’s hit movie Pan’s Labyrinth into an epic and dark fantasy novel for readers of all ages, complete with haunting illustrations and enchanting short stories that flesh out the folklore of this fascinating world.

This spellbinding tale takes readers to a sinister, magical, and war-torn world filled with richly drawn characters like trickster fauns, murderous soldiers, child-eating monsters, courageous rebels, and a long-lost princess hoping to be reunited with her family.

A brilliant collaboration between masterful storytellers that’s not to be missed.

This is a beautiful companion book to the film Pan’s Labyrinth – as soon as I finished reading the ARC, I purchased the print edition so I could have a copy of the gorgeous illustrations I’d missed out on by reading it digitally.

Full disclaimer: I love the film and it makes my top 10 list, easily, so I’m both biased and incredibly critical.

The parts of the book that relate to the film are pretty much the same and generate an atmosphere you could cut with a knife. It brings all the beautiful visuals to mind and includes some extra fairytales which fill in the blanks about the magic that Ofelia encounters during her adventures.

The writing style is very simple and easy to understand, which makes it feel like a bedtime story though I probably wouldn’t recommend reading this book to young children.
 The story is as gothic and tragic as I expected, it truly is a gem and will be an instant hit with any fans of dark fairytales – I highly recommend listening to the film soundtrack while you read to set the mood.