A well written young adults novel which absorbs the essence of a Brother’s Grimm story with a mix of folklore and adventure with a clever twist or two at the end. The story is set in the Bravarian forest on top of a cliff and it is a story of mystery, suspense and adventure. Fledgling is well written and researched, the characters are described in a way that as the reader you can’t but help compare them to people that you know or have met. One of the cleverest things about the book was the careful character development, although despite these revelations some of the characters aren’t likeable and that’s fine, I don’t think that they’re meant to be! Parts of the book are quite scary and reminded me strongly of Daphne Du Maurier’s classic story, Birds. I can imagine that some younger readers may find these scenes and the jeopardy a little scary. Overall an entertaining book which I am pleased to have read, although I don’t think it’s one that I will re-read time and time again now I know the twists and turns.