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Well, it does feel rather weird to give such a well known & well loved book a low rating like this, but rereading this as an adult, I realize it’s very so so?

I’ve read books aimed at children and loved them, so my opinion has nothing to do with the target audience. And it just so happens I really enjoyed this book when I was a child, so in that way it has accomplished its goal.

But this story is very simplistic, so much so that it barely does anything to disguise its religious messages. It probably has a lot to do with my own relationship to Christianity, but seeing these messages made me unsettled.

One in particular that sticks out to me is when Father Christmas arrives & gifts Lucy & Susan with weapons but tells them they will not be a part of the war because “war is ugly when women fight�� or something to that effect. To me, that’s a strange & uncomfortable message to portray through a magical figure many children look up to & respect.

Bottom line though? Even if this novel hadn’t been laced through with religious allegories, it still isn’t that interesting on the surface.

I toyed with the idea of reading this series through to the end since it’s so short, but given how much I didn’t enjoy my reread, I think I’ll cut my losses here & move on.