📚 Pre-Reading Thoughts
Sarah Beth Durst has become one of my favourite authors for stories about rebuilding, belonging and finding hope after everything seems lost. I was excited to see what she would do with middle grade fantasy - and, unsurprisingly, she delivered something packed with imagination, heart and just the right amount of delightful weirdness.
📖 Post-Reading
As I thought...
- Sarah Beth Durst has an incredible gift for creating magical worlds that feel as though they've always existed, just around the next corner. Every room in the Imagitorium is its own complete world, filled with creatures, rules and surprises, and because the doors constantly move, neither Amelia nor the reader ever knows what they'll discover next.
- Amelia is a wonderful heroine. She doesn't think of herself as brave, clever or particularly heroic. She's clumsy, often uncertain, and would much rather someone else took responsibility. But when the moment comes, she steps forward anyway. The book quietly reminds us that heroes aren't the people who never feel afraid - they're the people who do what needs to be done because they're the ones who are there.
- The imagination on display is extraordinary. Butterfly-winged bears with unicorn horns, pirate gorillas enthusiastically singing about how evil they are, sea turtles carrying rabbits, dragons, penguins skating across the ice...every chapter introduces another creature or corner of the Imagitorium that feels as though it has wandered out of someone's happiest daydream.
It surprised me by...
- How thoughtful its message is beneath all the spectacle. The story explores the idea that imaginary friends don't disappear because we grow up - they disappear because we've been told that's what happens. Nothing magical has changed except what people believe.
- How perfectly it captures the feeling of Labyrinth without copying it. There are moments where Amelia realises that her own fears are shaping the world around her, and she has to consciously choose hope over fear. It's a beautiful reminder that imagination can comfort us just as easily as it can frighten us.
- Just how much heart sits underneath all the whimsy. Beneath the colourful creatures and impossible rooms is a gentle argument that we don't have to pack away the joyful, imaginative parts of ourselves simply because we've grown older.
In her author's note, Sarah Beth Durst writes that she loves writing because it's like playing with imaginary friends, and she created the Imagitorium so readers could always have imaginary friends to visit whenever they wanted. That generosity shines through every page.
This is a book that celebrates creativity, kindness and courage in equal measure. It delights in impossible creatures and magical adventures, but its greatest magic is reminding readers that wonder is something we choose to keep.
🎧 Music Pairing
🎵 Featured Song: Rainbow Connection – Kermit the Frog
🎶 Vibe Album: The Muppet Movie soundtrack
🎧 Artist Recommendation: They Might Be Giants – playful, clever and endlessly imaginative.
🌈 Vibe Check
- Colour Palette: bright primary colours, emerald green, sunshine yellow, candy red, sky blue
- Soundtrack: joyful choruses, puppet theatre overtures, impossible adventures and songs that make you grin
- Season: every season at once
- Mood: magical, hopeful, delightfully bonkers
- Scent: peppermint, ginger biscuits, spun sugar, feathers, fur and fresh paper
🃏 Tarot Pull
Six of Cups
The Six of Cups celebrates imagination, childhood wonder and remembering that joy isn't something we have to leave behind as we grow older. Like Amelia, it reminds us that believing in impossible things isn't childish - it might just be the bravest thing we can do.
👀 For fans of
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
- Labyrinth
- Return to Oz
- magical portal fantasies
- stories that celebrate imagination and growing up without growing old
The Imagitorium publishes on the 2nd of March, 2027. I received a free copy and am giving an honest review.
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