When the mysterious Nowhere Emporium arrives in Glasgow, orphan Daniel Holmes stumbles upon it quite by accident. Before long, the 'shop from nowhere' -- and its owner, Mr Silver -- draw Daniel into a breathtaking world of magic and enchantment. Recruited as Mr Silver's apprentice, Daniel learns the secrets of the Emporium's vast labyrinth of passageways and rooms -- rooms that contain wonders beyond anything Daniel has ever imagined. But when Mr Silver disappears, and a shadow from the past threatens everything, the Emporium and all its wonders begin to crumble. Another thing that I really liked was the ending. I love how satisfying the ending was and how well it concluded this book. It's refreshing to read fantasy stories that are concluded within one book instead of being stretched across several installments.

HOWEVER, that hardly means this book is a rip-off of either of those books. Just because The Night Circus had magicians and magical rooms/venues, doesn't mean other books containing magicians and magic are necessarily rips-off of it. Similarly, just because Harry Potter featured a young boy who is introduced to a world of magic doesn't mean that this theme can no more be used in other books. Well. Let me not mislead you. Fun *for me* and stressful for our young hero, whose relationships are...fraught...throughout the book. Does he understand the rules Mr. Silver sets down? Is he doing it right? Are his friends really his friends or are they going to abandon him? My Review: I am a great deal older than the target audience for this book. But I am also about ten when it comes to magical-portal adventure stories! This isn't on the same plane as The Chronicles of Narnia, but it's got a boatload of fun trips away from reality. In present-day Glasgow, 11-year-old Mirren is dismayed to learn that her mother is being held captive inside the Emporium. When Mirren, her best friend Lukasz and their nemesis Robyn are summoned to the mysterious shop in the dead of night, they enter with trepidation. The children need to work together to rescue Mirren’s mum and defeat the evil magician who is infecting everything with his sinister magic. Meanwhile, they must keep one step ahead of the inky Nightmares, viscous monsters with terrifyingly sharp teeth, which chase them through the labyrinth of rooms.Before I start this review, let me first point out something most people have or are likely to notice when reading this book. Yes, you can see that the author was inspired by Harry Potter and The Night Circus. Yes, there are a few similarities between these books and The Nowhere Emporium. This story reads like the bedtime tale you wish your dad had told you when you were a kid, spinning it out over many weeks while you fought sleep as valiantly as you were able, always wanting to hear just a little bit more. Trying to be realistic for lots of my readers/friends here on GR, I don't think many of you would go out of your way to read it without a younger loved one to share it with; but I think you could have an opportunity to do that since many children younger than the recommended age of 8 would enjoy having this book read to them before they could read it to themselves. If you have a child who likes fantasy and adventure and can deal with a PG level of scariness, then this book would likely be a home run. Reading it by myself, I genuinely enjoyed it but was always aware it was rather more for kids than for me.

This book was extraordinary and utterly magical. and it made me feel like a young child again, it ignited my imagination and refilled my wonder. I was utterly captivated by The Nowhere Emporium and it gave me the tools to rediscover that childlike vivid imagination that tends to fade with age.I loved Ellie as well, Mr. Silver's twelve-year-old daughter. On the exterior, she's fierce and stubborn and brave, but there were little chinks in her armour that allowed her fear, her sadness and her uncertainty to reach the reader, making her feel like a very authentic character. She felt trapped and stifled, not being able to leave the Emporium's walls and I felt so sad for her because she was just a real girl who was a ghost to everyone but her father, Daniel and the Emporium's staff. She just wanted to set foot outside the Emporium's walls and see the real world, breathe fresh air into her lungs and explore the extraordinary beauty of earth. She was sassy and brave but she showed her vulnerability as well which made her feel so much more real! Daniel Holmes is the protagonist of the story. He's an unlikely hero and a lovable one. I adored him. He was brave, he was clever and he was kind. He's an orphan boy who lost his parents in awful circumstances and the orphanage he's been placed in is a building devoid of friends, kindness and warmth. I also loved that he was a realistic kid, he made some silly mistakes but he had a heart of gold and I LOVED HIM OKAY. I felt a burst of happiness for Daniel when he was taken under Mr. Silver's wing and discovered a life of wonder and magnificence because the precious marshmallow really, really deserved it. This is a fun read, and I would recommend it for kids and adults alike. It pulls you along and never slows down. Actual image of me hugging most of the characters in this book. There, there my smol precious children.