Great Expectation: 2012 Hugo Award for Best Novel and 2011 Nebula Award for Best Novel.

Winning both those awards is pretty high praise for a science fiction or fantasy novel, and so even though I’d never heard of it, I was interested to give it a read. Among Others tells the coming-of-age story of Morwenna Phelps, a 15-year-old Welsh girl, who is sent to boarding school after her sister dies (and she is terribly injured) in a car accident. This doesn’t sound very “fantasy” except that Morwenna can see faeries, do magic, and must protect herself from her (literally) evil witch of a mother. I liked Walton’s subtle magical world, but this is much more coming of age (solace in books, making friends, dealing with family, getting a boyfriend) than it is fantasy. The story takes place in the aftermath of the events that killed her sister and so there is very little of what you’d refer to as “action”. The conclusion felt rushed and somewhat anticlimactic.

Expectations Met? No. Not by a long shot. I find that I usually like or at least appreciate award-winning books, but boy, did this one miss the mark with me. Two stars.