Quick Synopsis – Guinevere Sharpe has two childhoods.

In one, she and her brother, Ennis, live in the wooded shadow of their family’s isolated Vermont farmhouse; in the other, the pages of their mother’s world-famous Ninth City books, where their magical adventures have made them household names. In reality, Guinevere’s childhood isn’t the enchanted idyll her mother’s readers imagine: she and Ennis are growing up near-feral, unwashed and underfed, escaping each day to the wild woods they’ve made their playland. As Edith Sharpe’s books explode into epic popularity, the threats of a rural childhood give way to the escalating perils of fame—until the night it all goes up in flames, leaving Edith’s series unfinished and her children the sole survivors.

Now an adult coasting on her mother’s name, Guinevere is mid-promotion for a ghostwritten memoir when her estranged brother, an artist who has until now spurned his family’s legacy, announces an upcoming installation titled, simply, Mother. As rumors swirl around a death connected to his last show, unsettling recollections from Guinevere’s childhood begin to surface. Her public facade starts to crack, forcing her to confront the questions she’s spent the last twenty years running from: What really happened the night of the fire? And what dark history lies behind their mother’s fantasy world?

Song This Reminds Me Of – Pretty much the whole Stick Season album by Noah Kahan and The Kids Aren’t All Right by Fall Out Boy

Publication Date – June 2, 2026

Bookshop Link – The Children by Melissa Albert

Content Notes – This is an adult book there are some sexual scenes, but nothing that graphic. There is child abuse, child neglect, spousal abuse, cheating, blood, some gore, and some horror elements. There is a reference to off-page suicide.

Rating – ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of 5

Review – Melissa Albert is so good at writing a dark fairy tale. Guinevere and Ennis grow-up in a secluded Vermont farmhouse. Their father, Llewllyn, is a well-regarded stage actor and their mother, Edith, is a burgeoning author. When they arrive at the farmhouse it seems idyllic, almost other-worldly. As their father’s light seems to dim, their mother’s star seems to rise. Edith has started to publish a popular children’s series called The Ninth City and she has used her own children as the starring characters. Twenty years after a tragedy leaves Guinevere and Ennis orphans, Guinevere is releasing a rose-colored memoir, and Ennis is announcing an art installation only called Mother.

The book is told between Guinevere’s childhood and her present, with several interstitials that are often flashbacks of Guinevere’s young adult life or other perspectives for the story. This book is dark and does take a harsh look on what the public viewed as a charmed childhood and when in reality was a struggle. Guinevere and Ennis are children who really only have each other. They spend their time playing pretend and exploring together which at first seems magical, but quickly becomes a means of survival. While the story is mostly told from Guinevere’s point of view, it’s clear that both children suffered abuse, but it’s also clear that Ennis likely sheltered Guinevere and also suffered abuse that she was unaware of.

Truly this book is about how ambition can corrupt and how willing adults are to ignore what’s in front of their faces. There are so many adults that go in and out of the children’s childhood, but none of them act to help them. Even though there are repeated times that the children are mentioned as unkempt, thin, and feral. They’re “homeschooled” which really means just running wild. One of the only issues I had is there is a caretaker mentioned at the beginning of the book that has no real purpose, I feel like it would have been more interesting to have him affect the story more. I did love the adult Guinevere, I thought her unraveling as she had to face her childhood was heartbreaking and real.

Guinevere and Ennis have no contact for 20 years. I had a hard time putting the book down because of the sense of dread and build up to fine out what happened between them. I do wish that we as the reader would have more interaction with the siblings as adults, just like an extra chapter of them coming back together. I did love the ending, I almost wish I could spoil it. But I won’t, you’ll just have to buy it for yourself!

Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for the advanced copy, all opinions are my own.