Book Review: Behind the Canvas by Alexander Vance

I received a free ecopy of this book from Netgalley and Feiwel & Friends in exchange for an honest review.

Title: Behind the Canvas
Author: Alexander Vance
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Publication Date: February 23, 2016
Genre: Middle-grade Fantasy
Length: 336 pages
Source: Netgalley

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Synopsis:

A girl discovers she has the ability to inhabit the world of famous paintings, and tries to help a boy trapped behind the canvas.

There is a world behind the canvas. Past the paint of the canvas is a realm where art lives, breathes, creates, destroys.

Claudia Miravista loves art but only sees what is on the surface, until the Dutch boy Pim appears in her painting. Pim has been trapped in the world behind the canvas for centuries by a power-hungry witch, and now believes that Claudia is his only hope for escape. Fueled by the help of an ancient artist and some microwaveable magic, Claudia enters the wondrous and terrifying world, intent on destroying the witch's most cherished possession and setting Pim free. But in that world nothing is quite as it appears on the surface. Not even friendship.

My Thoughts:

First of all, let's talk about the beginning of that synopsis. Pretty redundant, don't you think? I sincerely hope they rewrite that soon.

Claudia loves art. She loves to draw and loves looking at paintings and learning about the artists that painted them. One day she discovers a boy with vivid blue eyes in a painting that starts talking to her. She learns that he can move from painting to painting and they quickly become friends. After discovering that he is not a figment of her imagination and is in fact a real boy trapped behind the canvas by an evil witch, she vows to do whatever she can to help him, even if it means traveling behind the canvas and coming face to face with the witch herself. 

I love the unique premise of this book. As an artist (whom hasn't painted anything in a couple of years) I love the idea and the thought of a world that is created by artists painting is so unique and fascinating to me. I enjoyed the quirky footnotes that covered artists and styles that I haven't thought about in years.

I enjoyed the characters, even down to Cash, a dog from one of those poker paintings that I've never been a big fan of. It was easy to feel their emotions throughout the book. 

My only complaint is that so little of the world of paintings was discovered when there are endless artworks to peruse, but that is just my love of art wanting more. 

My Rating:

4 stars