Little (Grrl) Lost by Charles de Lint

Truthfully I was hoping someone had already started this posting. I'll be honest and report that I stopped reading at page 100. The writing seemed juvenile, the premise of the Littles wasn't convincing, and the characters were cardboard-y. I was expecting much more edge and grit judging by the cover (ahem).

Both Voya and Booklist cite this book as a gateway to de Lint's Newford series, but the readership likely to be engaged by Little (Grrl) Lost seems quite young. I kept remembering Mary Norton's Borrowers from my fourth grade real aloud circle and wondered what de Lint's rules were and what their game was.

We are all trying to get through our lot in preparation for selecting the top 20, so the pressure is on to slog through. I can't see this making it, but I am prepared to read on should another reader contradict my possibly premature assessment.
NAY