The Stolen Child

First I want to be honest with you all that this is the second review of this book. I make the first one by writing the review based on my interpretation on my friend story. She read the stolen child book and tell me that it was a great story and then she tells me the story then I write a review based on it. well now I know that it was wrong to do such thing and if you want to write a book review you have to read it by your self because maybe sometimes your interpretation will be different from the original book story. Well now I'm trying to write the second review based on what I myself read from the book. I'm very sorry to the fans of this book who read my first review so please do enjoy my second review to make it up for the first one :).


This book written by Keith Donohue, telling the story about an old traditional myth of Hobgoblin or Changeling. Hobgoblins are little fairies who like to kidnap children and switch places with human children. A hobgoblin will transformer into the human child and replace kidnapped child live, meanwhile the child will turn to a hobgoblin as the exchange, when a child turn into a hobgoblin he will be a child forever unless he can kidnap another child and then switch places with him. Physically a hobgoblin is a child forever more but his soul continue growing and mature. And when he returned to the "upper world", the hobgoblin takes up the aging process where he/she left off.

Seven years old Henry Day is a typical child who lives in rural area. One day he runs away from home after an argument with his mother. Henry feels angry when her mother attention and affection has to be shared for his two little twin sister beside for himself. He was an egoistic child. Henry wondering alone in the woods and captured by a bunch of hobgoblins. The hobgoblins actually has keep their eyes on Henry for a long time because they know Henry is a perfect child for changeling. When the changeling happen Henry Day’s life changes forever when a hobgoblin alters his appearance so that he looks exactly like Henry, then the hobgoblin who now has transfered to Henry day decides to take Henry's part in life. Since then the true Henry Day turns into a hobgoblin and must join the other hobgoblins in the woods, and wait in line for his chance to change places with another child.

The hobgoblin who takes Henry Day part was also a child named Gustav before he was kidnapped by another hobgoblin. After he takes place of Henry Day he then uses his power to make himself aging year after and becomes the adult Henry Day. After a long time live in each other new world, Gustav and Henry try to remember their life before. Henry as a hobgoblin has an extremely difficult time, as one would expect, adapting to his new life in the woods and is unable to completely forget and leave his old life behind despite the urging of his fellow hobgoblins. Henry try to collect pieces of his life story by writing in his journal, meanwhile Gustav try to track his live until he comes to Europe. One time they meet at a point when they realize that both of them wants to get their past life back.

When you read this I suggest you to concentrate to the story carefully because the story about human Henry Day (Gustav) and Hobgoblin Henry Day (the true Henry) was written in a chapter randomly, first chapter is about Gustav, the second chapter is about Henry, the third part about Gustav again..then it became a random continuity (you know what I mean right?).

A very enchanting book with very descriptive story, lyrical in its telling. Spinning the story on two worlds that imaginary exists side by side. The human and the fantasy world. It is also a story about memories of past, present, and future live that always seems to connecting one live.