“The Trilogy of Two” is a slightly dystopian fantasy for middle-level readers about two twins, Charlotte and Sonja. The girls live on the Outskirts of Rain City as part of a traveling circus. Their act is playing music, and they do it extraordinarily well. Lately, though, winds have swept up and lightning has cracked while they play. Nervous about the effects of natural disasters on his business, the boss of the circus cancels their act. When the twins’ adopted mother, Tatty, goes missing, and other seemingly random incidents occur, the twins decide to take action. They set off on a journey to find their mother and the source of their powers.

This book is easy to read and future plot events are easy to foretell. It is also inventive, whimsical, and fascinating (Malouf’s hand-drawn illustrations specifically). However, I was not hooked. The novel lacked substance. It felt like a series of sketches or a twisting road down a mythical underground. You can be swept up in it, but it doesn’t leave you with anything after you step off. All you have is a slight nasty sense, like you need to wash your hands.

What is interesting about “The Trilogy of Two” is that the characters interact in the space between one land and another. For example, the twins live on the Outskirts of a city, and they enter it through secret passageways and empty office buildings. They are not poor Scrummagers, but they’re not city-dwellers either- they’re segmented between the two classes.

“The Trilogy of Two” will satisfy an itch to explore the mystical side of the world that Hans Christian Anderson and The Brothers Grimm so deftly tapped into. Unfortunately however, after closing the book, you won’t know the point of the whimsical adventure that hooked you for 400 pages.