Almost a 5 star, which in my personal ranking system is literally a perfect book that I have no gripes with whatsoever.

The story of this one, while fun and engaging, is clearly meant for children (which is not a complaint, just a statement of fact) and might not have been enough to hold my attention on its own, but what kept me hooked was the world building. Mieville does such an amazing job dreaming up aspects of the fantasy world that never would have occurred to me. They're not just ridiculous random things either, they're really thoughtful and intentional mirrors and shifts of things in our world and really inspire you to think more closely about your relationship with the everyday objects around you. I also really enjoyed and appreciated the underlying message that when things are bad, you can't always wait for the perfect person/scenario, sometimes you just have to wade in and do the best you can. I expected to quickly read through this one and then pass it on, but I think actually I need to hang on to it and read it at least one more time to really hone in on the details.