This is a book in the mode of Phantom Toll Booth- we have a kid born in Djibouti (Africa) but is now in England - shes an outcast, from the way she looks, to being adopted. As a result, she's a bit of a loner and observant. So of course, when letters start to go missing, she's the one that notices.... which sends her to a former teacher, who sends her to Liminus, a world next door to ours that is a bit odd.

The story actually reminds me of the Phantom Toll Booth, with language being twisted and turned into something. The mix of fonts also adds to the story, emphasizing the style of the building or village that Dhikilo is traveling through.

As an adult, I found it a bit predictable, but I suspect if I read this as a kid, I would have loved it. ( )

I’ll read anything by Michel Faber, even YA.
Delightful. ( )

This book had a great premise and could have been much more interesting, but instead it just kind of....happens. Our main character, Dhikilo, wakes one day to notice that the letter "D" has vanished from the world. Most people have stopped using it in speech, it has disappeared from signage and books, and eventually, things with the letter "d" in their name just disappear. Dhikilo is very disturbed by this, but doesn't know how to fix it, since she's a child. She eventually stumbles into a quest to find out what is going on, and the rest of the book is her just travelling, meeting very stupid groups of people along the way, getting arrested and nearly killed, and the situation just kind of resolves itself, with maybe a little help from Dhikilo and the sphinx she has been travelling with. There are many Dickensian references, and nods to other classics, like Narnia, but overall it was not as magical or as, well, plot-driven as I would have liked. ( )

This was an excellent surprise of a bok. I only bought it because of Neil Gaiman and two employees told me that it was a book worth reading. It was kind of a rocky start but once I got into the story oh I devoured it. I wouldn't mind reading more of his work. And of course Neil Gaiman did not lead me wrong. ( )

Leuke queeste met een serieuze ondertoon

D is, na een ontmoeting met een Engels meisje uit Somaliland - die ik moest opzoeken - een wonderlijke reis met een opdracht, ontmoetingen, ontberingen, vriendschap. Volop fantasie-ideeën. En zonder gevechten of hele enge dingen, als het spannend is duurt het niet lang voordat de omstandigheden weer mooier of zelfs warm zijn. Het plot is een manier van 'D eus ex-machina', maar dat stoorde niet. Ik vind het leuk dat op de terugweg alle wezens en plaatsen van de heenreis opnieuw worden bezocht: zo kun je als lezer ook langzaam afscheid nemen van het verhaal. Onderliggend aan dit fantasieverhaal is een voorbeeld/klacht van wat een dictator met een samenleving kan doen, met vreemde wetten waar burgers uit angst aan gehoorzamen . Titel: Laat zien wat het missen van een enkele letter kan bereiken en het belang van taal.

'Wat kunnen we nu doen? Hoeveel woorden zijn er nog met D's erin? Niet veel, wed ik. Waarschijnlijk zijn de beste al verpest. ..
...'En als ik ooit mijn vader vind, wat zal hij dan zijn? Gewoon een geluid. Een geluid zonder enige betekenis.' p. 208

Vertaald met www.DeepL.com/Translator (gratis versie)

Nice queeste with a serious undertone

D is, after meeting an English girl from Somaliland - who I had to look up - a wonderful journey with an assignment, encounters, hardships, friendship. Plenty of fantasy ideas. And without fights or very scary things, when it is exciting it doesn't take long before the conditions are nicer or even warm again. The plot is a way of 'D eus ex-machina', but that didn't bother. I like the fact that on the way back all the creatures and places of the outward journey are revisited: as a reader you can also slowly say goodbye to the story. Underlying this fantasy story is an example/ complaint of what a dictator can do to a society, with strange laws that citizens obey out of fear . Title: Shows what the missing of one single letter can accomplish and the importance of language.

'What can we do now? How many words are left with Ds in it? Not many, I bet. Probably al the best ones have already been ruined.' ..
.. 'And if I ever find my dad, what will he be? Just a sound. A sound without any meaning.' p. 208 ( )