When my father first brought this book home from the library and told me about it, I was vaguely interested, but not at all excited. I thought, "Well, I guess the cover is pretty...and it has an okay title..."

The problem was, I was already deep into about 3 other books at …more that moment, so when I finally got the chance to pick it up, I had to return it only a few days later. By that time, I couldn't put it down.

My dad got the chance to take it out for me twice more, but I am the slowest reader possibly on the planet, so I reluctantly had to return it time and time again.

Finally, on Valentines Day, my father presented me with a loving father-daughter gift: my very own copy of "The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie." I was ecstatic, and started reading it right away.

To tell you the truth, as an avid writer myself, this book had me, at moments, wanting to stop reading it and write down all the brilliant descriptions Bradley came up with throughout the book. Just the first line was amazing: "It was as dark in the closet as old blood." What a fantastic comparison!

Alan Bradley is an author who paints the scene in front of you with words and similes so utterly amazing that you are compelled to laugh, frown, flinch, throw the book down on the ground, and pick it up again to read once more. The characters are so real: Daphne and Ophelia, Flavia's evil sisters taken right off the pages of "Cinderella," make you want to burst out laughing every page, while other times I want to slap the book because they are so annoying; Flavia's father, who is so distant yet close; Mr. Pemberton, who I will not spoil for you...he's just too brilliant; and Flavia herself, who is by far my favorite person ever to read about. I can understand why Mr. Bradley treated her as such a real person.

I;ll make my conclusion quite simple: please, please, PLEASE read this book. It's brilliant. (less)