Review: Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu

Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu

(I'm reading this book as a part of my Diverse Fantasy Read-A-Thon. If you're interested, sign ups are still open!)

Once upon a time, Hazel and Jack were best friends. They had been best friends since they were six, spending hot Minneapolis summers and cold Minneapolis winters together, dreaming of Hogwarts and Oz, superheroes and baseball. Now that they were eleven, it was weird for a boy and a girl to be best friends. But they couldn't help it - Hazel and Jack fit, in that way you only read about in books. And they didn't fit anywhere else.

And then, one day, it was over. Jack just stopped talking to Hazel. And while her mom tried to tell her that this sometimes happens to boys and girls at this age, Hazel had read enough stories to know that it's never that simple. And it turns out, she was right. Jack's heart had been frozen, and he was taken into the woods by a woman dressed in white to live in a palace made of ice. Now, it's up to Hazel to venture into the woods after him. Hazel finds, however, that these woods are nothing like what she's read about, and the Jack that Hazel went in to save isn't the same Jack that will emerge. Or even the same Hazel.

Inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's "The Snow Queen," Breadcrumbs is a story of the struggle to hold on, and the things we leave behind.

GOODREADS // AMAZON 

Hazel is from India, adopted by American parents who have since divorced. She is a girl who lives in books. The girl who loves Hogwarts and Wonderland and loves making up stories with her best friend Jack. Hazel feels like an outsider at all times due her being different; not just her looks but also her way of thinking and seeing things. Her classmates think she's a dork and a weirdo; most of them calling her 'Hazy' Hazel. my heart pined for this little kid who's life revolved around her mother and her best friend. Despite her feeling that she didn't belong anywhwre she feels at home with her mom and Jack. Her noticing the things that made her different from others is heart wrenching.

And Hazel, for the first time, saw what they saw. Her mother was white with blue eyes and light brown hair. Hazel had straight black hair, odd big brown eyes, and dark brown skin. People looked, and Hazel looked, too, and when she looked she realized that everyone else came in matching sets of one kind or another.

Jack is an amazing boy with an imagination to match but he has his problems too. A mother who has slipped into depression and left him feeling lonely. He cares about Hazel as much he cares about his family. He is there for her when her father leaves and there for her when her classmates make fun of her. He is a wonderful kind of best friends who later stops being so. He changes overnight and suddenly disappears. This is what kick starts the major events of the story.

Hazel and Jack have been best friends and neighbors for years now and they've always been there for each other; when Hazel's father left, when Jack's mom slipped into depression; always. Now Jack has turned cold all of a sudden and then much to Hazel's bewilderment and fear, disappears. the plot deals with Hazel setting out to rescue Jack from The Snow queen, braving the things that come her way. There is so much depth to each encounter. This maybe a book for middle graders but even adults could learn a thing or two from the book. I didn't love the fantasy part as much as I thought i would but it was still well brought out.

the writing is lovely. The authors writes so well that I could have a perfect imagery when reading the book. I enjoyed the banter between Jack and Hazel and how the writing made me smile so much.

- The Characters

- The plot

- The writing

- The diversity (Indian descent MC)

- Certain plot points

A wonderful book that I would recommend to everyone for it is beautiful and the characters are so amazing. The inner demons of the characters are depicted so vividly and i personally loved the ending.

View all my reviews