ALA Booklist (Sun Apr 01 00:00:00 CDT 2018)

Odd, unruly Gwendolyn Gray has grown up with her imagination stifled by The City. When her daydreams come to life, she's chased by the Faceless Gentlemen, who will do whatever it takes to preserve The City's order. Soon, she's whisked away into another world alongside two explorers, where she has to go up against airship pirates and dangerous shadows to find her way home. Gwendolyn has a spunky and bright personality that brings the story to life, and her imagination offsets her quirky adventures and zany exploits. The tone stays relatively light, but Williamson weaves serious themes throughout, with a large focus on bullying; the writing style is such that it often feels as if a narrator is sharing a personal story. This reads as something of a cautionary tale t only to hold onto the imagination, but to embrace it. Williamson skillfully blends a dystopian society with a steampunk adventure and a coming-of-age journey. Fans of classic adventures like Alice in Wonderland and Wizard of Oz will adore Gwendolyn.

Kirkus Reviews (Thu Feb 01 00:00:00 CST 2018)

"Unlike the rest of the City, Gwendolyn's problem was turning her imagination off."Nearly-13-year-old Gwendolyn lives in a city where everything—buildings, clothing, sky—is gray and dismal. She escapes bullying from cruel classmates—and life's tedium—by using her fertile imagination, fed by neglected books at the Hall of Records. One day, she discovers to her horror that she has begun causing things to happen just by thinking them. A classroom reverie leads Gwendolyn to inadvertently create floppy rabbit ears on Missy, a classmate. When two sinister men in bowlers show up, the stakes grow higher; Gwendolyn's goals change from saving Missy to saving a city to, eventually, saving several worlds from dark energy related to the Faceless Gentlemen. The adventure is a full one, perhaps too full, including both dystopian and steampunk worldbuilding elements; astonishing beasts; beginning flirtations; hair-raising scrapes; and, finally, a return to Gwendolyn's City of No Stories. Has she made a difference? The denouement will feel gut-wrenching for readers who have come to love Gwendolyn's companions, siblings Starling and Sparrow, unless they read carefully to the end, which hints at additional special powers and adventures in the future. Kolonius Thrash, a dark-skinned, teenage, swashbuckling hero with dreadlocks, adds some diversity to the mostly white cast. Frequent direct addresses from the narrator and running jokes add quaintness; the plentiful use of antiquated mental-illness tropes contributes a caustic quality.Mostly fun; sometimes overwhelming. (Fantasy. 8-12)

School Library Journal (Thu Feb 01 00:00:00 CST 2018)

Gr 5-7 Twelve-year-old Gwendolyn is a dreamer with the misfortune of living in the Citya gray metropolis of metal, stone, and conformity. Gwendolyn's fiery red hair and wild imagination set her apart from the other inhabitants, but when her fantasies begin to physically change the world around her, Gwendolyn finds herself being followed by two faceless gentlemen intent on erasing not only her changes, but Gwendolyn herself. She flees, but with a little help from friends found along the way, she resolves to save herself, the City, and every other world as well. Gwendolyn is a well developed character: she longs for a colorful, carefree life and she works to recognize her flaws, define her own feelings, be true to herself, and make the best decisions. Williamson successfully grounds the work both in fantastical and dystopian settings, making otherworldly markets and steampunk pirates in airships fit perfectly alongside more common themes such as building lasting friendships and the first hint of romance. Complementing the plot and main character is a narrator who subverts conventional clichés through engaging asides to encourage the imagination of even reluctant readers. VERDICT A fresh consideration of the power of imagination; hand this to kids with vivid minds of their own. Maggie Mason Smith, Clemson University, SC