Take a step back in time to 1996 with eleven (nearly twelve-year-old) Fiona Larson.

Before she was born Fiona’s sister died whilst at the fair that had arrived in their small hometown. Every year the fair still comes and her mother forbids her from visiting it.

Her parents have never told Fiona what happened at the fair or how her sister died. So Fiona makes it her mission to discover the truth, as well as making her parents think she is responsible and grown-up enough to go this year.

All the Fun of the Fair is a fabulously fun and touching novel set in an era I remember well, the nineties. Fiona feels left out when she sees the posters going up for the local fair which will be arriving soon. She has always wanted to go but her mother says no each year, the reason, her sister died there.

What I loved about Fiona is that she had pure determination. She set her sights on going to the fair and came up with different plans and lots of lists to help get her there.

Some of the things she came up with were laughable and childish but this is where you have to remember she is only eleven and this is how the mind of a child works. I also felt sorry for this young girl growing up in the shadow of a sister she never knew, one who her parents remember as being perfect. They even kept her room just how it was and Fiona has to have a small bedroom. They also refused to tell Fiona the reason for her sister’s death which I found hard to digest why any parent would do that. But once the cause is revealed I understood, although I still disagreed with them.

This is a book I adored from cover to cover. It had me reminiscing about my teenage years. It is a truly beautiful story that had me laughing for most of it and feeling raw with emotions for the other.

When you analyse the plot this is the tale of one young girl who just wants to know the truth and be treated as an individual whilst her parents can’t move on from the grief of losing a child and don’t seem to realise how hard Fiona is finding life right now.

Brilliantly executed, heart-warming, imaginative, and gripping. All the Fun of the Fair had me glued to the pages and I was sad for it to end.