Greenwild by Pari Thomson

Pages: 385 

Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books 

Released: 1st of June 2023 

Open the door to a spellbinding world where the wilderness is alive and a deep magic rises from the earth itself . . .

Eleven-year-old Daisy Thistledown is on the run. Her mother has been keeping big, glittering secrets, and now she has vanished. Daisy knows it’s up to her to find Ma―but someone is hunting her across London. Someone determined to stop her from discovering the truth.

So when Daisy flees to safety through a mysterious hidden doorway, she can barely believe her eyes―she has stepped out of the city and into another world.

This is the Greenwild. Bursting with magic and full of amazing natural wonders, it seems too astonishing to be true. But not only is this land of green magic real, it holds the key to finding Daisy’s mother.

And someone wants to destroy it.

Daisy must band together with a botanical genius, a boy who can talk with animals, and a cat with an attitude to uncover the truth about who she really is. Only then can she channel the power that will change her whole world . . . and save the Greenwild itself.

What I Have to Say 

This is a great eco-focused book for children who love plants and nature! I really enjoyed meeting the botanists and exploring their world. I loved how there was some range in their powers as one of the characters has a power over animals instead of plants! 

I felt that this book was more of a set up than anything else. It was about discovering the world and learning about magic rather than fighting the evil characters, though there were some of that too! It was really good how everything was connected and fell into place at the end. 

I feel like this could be a good book to give children a respect for nature, if they come across it themselves, but it could feel pushed on them if handled badly. Better buy it for a child who already has an interest in plants and animals. 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Macmillan Children's Books for providing me with this copy for review.