The Collagist

February 5, 2024
Holmberg details a family saga buried under years of secrets in this cumbersome gothic fantasy debut. Most of Romilly’s memories of her childhood are shadowed by her mother’s mysterious illness. Following her mother’s death, villagers suddenly flee their homes and Romilly takes up her mother’s place in assisting her emotionally withdrawn father on the family farm. When she learns that her seafaring uncle has gone missing, she persuades her father to help her look for him. Despite them fearing the worst, they find him safe on a remote island in an abandoned cabin once owned by her great-aunt. Exploring further, Romilly realizes that the island is inhabited by strange animals, including a talking crow named Robbie and a kestrel named Mira. After Romilly and her uncle reveal that they’ve both seen a mysterious sky being, they endeavor to make contact, setting their family on an unexpected path. Dense and overwrought prose hampers narrative clarity and buries the more intriguing elements of Holmberg’s worldbuilding, such as the lore behind the enigmatic being and Romilly’s ancestry. Romilly and her family cue as white. Ages 12–up.

March 15, 2024
Grades 6-9 It begins when 15-year-old Romilly secretly sees a great being in the sky and her beloved paternal uncle goes missing. When Romilly and her father go in search of him, they find him ensconced in a stone cottage on a nearby island, where Romilly learns that he, too, has seen the being, which he declares is trying to communicate with them. They establish contact and learn the being's name is Digby, and he wants to come home. But Digby is the older relative whose one-time contagious sickness killed Romilly's mother. In the face of Romilly's father's hatred, Digby fled to another world. Meanwhile, Romilly learns that her great-aunt, Digby's partner, has bequeathed the island and cottage to her, but her father desperately wants her to not stay there, lest he be left alone. What is Romilly to do? Holmberg's first novel is often beautifully written, rich in simile and metaphor, though the dialogue is sometimes saccharine. But the plot is engaging, and readers who like gentle fantasy will enjoy this one.

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