Review 17: Mary Poppins by P. L. Travers

Mary Poppins by P. L. Travers

About the author

Pamela Lyndon Travers was born in Australia in 1899 and her birth name was Helen Lyndon Goff. She was first published in her teenage years and also worked briefly as a Shakespearean actress. At the age of 25 she emigrated to England and changed her name to Pamela Lyndon Travers, she adopted the pen name P. L. Travers in 1933, when she started writing the Mary Poppins series. Walt Disney tried for years to get the rights for Mary Poppins to be made into a film, he even visited her several times at her house in London. Eventually Disney obtained the rights and the film Mary Poppins film was released in 1964. Travers did write many other novels, poetry and works of non-fiction but she is mainly remembered for Mary Poppins. She received an OBE in 1977 and died in 1996.

Blurb

When Mary Poppins arrives at their house on a gust of the East Wind, and slides up the banister, Jane and Michael Banks’s lives are turned magically and wonderfully upside down…

Review

Another book off my Christmas reading list finished and enjoyed. I’ve never read any of the Mary Poppins stories before but I have watched the film many times over, I used to happily sing along to all the songs and must admit I still do. I must admit I am looking forward to the new film coming out but only because one of my students stars in the film. I am not usually a fan of remakes if truth be told. When Waterstones emailed advertising this book I ordered it straight away and got a signed copy, always a thrill.

The first thing I noticed was that the story is abridged which was a little disappointing but the gorgeous illustrations more than made up for that. The story is based around the Banks family who are in need of another nanny and that is where Mary Poppins comes in.

The Banks family consists of Mr Banks the father and head of the house who is rather tight with money and goes out to work each day at the bank. Mrs Banks is the mother and is always out being very busy doing things and making sure the house is running correctly. The children are Michael and Jane the two oldest and the main characters of the story and the young twins John and Barbara who have a chapter of their own but are not otherwise really mentioned. Then there is Mrs Ellen who is the cook, Ellen the maid and Robertson Ay who is the butler but who is also a little useless.

Michael and Jane are rather naughty children and have driven away another Nanny and so Mary Poppins turns up to be the new Nanny. Mary Poppins instantly comes across as different to the children, to begin with she seems to arrive with the wind and then she sits at the bottom of the banister and slides up the staircase. The children know that Mary is different and soon begin to realise her ways and methods. The other thing I love about the children is their view of the world, a good example of this is the fact that they think their dad physically makes money at the bank. When I read this I had the image of Mr Banks sat there cutting out and minting coins and this is what I think the children also imagine their father does each day at work. I found the image adorable and it put a big smile on my face. Travers is a talented writer in this respect and fully understands the way a child’s mind works.

Mary Poppins was a bit of a surprise to me, firstly I could not believe how vain she is, she is constantly looking at her own reflection and deliberately wears clothes and hats that she knows are different and look good on her. The two children get frustrated with her when they go out as she constantly stops at windows to look at herself. In this respect I do not think she sets a good example to the children and I would not like to be around a person who did this either so I understand the children’s frustration. Mary Poppins is also very bossy which I was not happy about but she did get results from the children so I suppose it worked. I also found it odd how she called all birds sparrows, even pigeons, thankfully the children knew better.

I did not find Michael and Jane to be very naughty and thought that the previous nanny must have had a very low threshold of behaviour for the children to drive her to leave. I found the children inquisitive and just like normal happy high spirited children but maybe my opinion is a modern opinion and the time the story was written children were still meant to be seen and not heard.

My favourite chapter was in fact the chapter based around John and Barbara and how when they reach the age of one everything changes. I found this chapter really sweet and it made me smile, it also made me a little sad but in a good way. The illustrations for this chapter also reminded me greatly of the TV series that Child created called Charlie and Lola. The other highlight of this chapter was the cheeky starling.

I did enjoy this book and I want to read the full version and maybe some of the sequels but it did disappoint in some areas, the main being Mary Poppins, she just came across as grumpy. The best characters were the children I loved their naivety and their undying love of Mary Poppins even though they can see her flaws they still love her and have also learnt how to get what they want from her. The other reason I enjoyed this book so much was the illustrations, Child is very talented and she really made the story come alive. I only gave this book 3 out 5 stars because it felt like a lot had been cut from the story and it seemed to detract from the storyline and at times felt rushed and disjointed. Also I struggled to accept Mary Poppins at times.

A beautiful book well worth the read and I will happily recommend it to children and adults. I will leave you with my favourite illustration from the book.

Lady Book Dragon

Review 15: Dark Tracks by Philippa Gregory

Dark Tracks: Order of Darkness Volume IV by Philippa Gregory

About the author

Philippa Gregory was born in 1954 in Nairobi, Republic of Kenya. When she was two years old her family moved back to England. She studied English literature at the University of Sussex, where she later switched to the history course. Gregory earned her doctorate in 18th century literature at the University of Edinburgh and has taught at the University of Durham, University of Teeside and the Open University and was made a Fellow of Kingston University in 1994. Gregory’s first work was published in 1987 and she has been writing ever since, one of her most famous works The Other Boleyn Girl has won the Romantic Novel of the Year Award and has been made into two separate films.

Blurb

Luca Vero is a member of the secret Order of Darkness, tasked by his master to uncover the truth behind strange happenings. Although Lady Isolde, her friend and Ishraq, Luca’s manservant Freize, and Brother Peter, Luca travels miles across medieval Europe – seeking out the signs of the end of days, judging the supernatural and testing the new science.

Trapped in a village possessed by dancing madness, the group fights to keep their own sanity. When Isolde dances away in red shoes and Ishraq takes dramatic revenge on their covert assassin, the young people discover that the greatest risk is in the men who have come to their rescue. These are the truly dangerous madmen of Europe who carry a dark hatred that will last for centuries.

Review

I waited for ages for this book to be released and just recently I finally got around to buying it. I have read all the previous books in the series and really enjoyed them, I loved them so much I bought the first two as a present for my niece to read. So as you can imagine I was quite excited to read this book. Sadly the book did not live up to my enthusiasm and I doubt I will be recommending it to my niece.

The story continues with the same five characters from the series, Luca, Brother Peter, Freize, Isolde, and Ishraq. Luca is a novice not yet a full monk who works for the Order of Darkness a secret order that is monitoring things for the signs of the end of days. Brother Peter is a full monk who is following Luca writing down everything that they see and writing the reports for the secret order. He is also the oldest member of the five and makes sure that Luca remains faithful to his training to one day be a monk. Freize is Luca’s manservant who is extremely loyal and unfailing in his service. Isolde is a noblewoman who is trying to fight for her lands and castle with her friend Ishraq who she grew up with.

Luca, Brother Peter and Freize have been sent off to follow and study the people affected by the dancing sickness or madness, people in groups have decided to go off and dance leaving everything they know behind them. As their road is the same as Isolde’s and Ishraq’s they carry on travelling together.

The dancing sickness or madness was a phenomenon that was recorded in medieval times and times after that and there have been many theories as to the cause, however it has never been confirmed as to what it is. I always enjoy Gregory’s books because of the historical references within them and I was intrigued by the dancing sickness when reading about it in the blurb, however the book did not reveal as much as I would like to have learnt about it and the final result the characters came up with regarding it was a huge disappointment, it was like Gregory just wanted the book to finish within a certain word count and so gave up.

The other issue she discussed in the book was the treatment of Jews in the medieval times and this I did find interesting and was horrified about what I learnt from it. The scene at the end of the book was also very interesting. This issue is basically why the book did not get just one star.

In this book I found the two females sadly lacking, in the previous books they had been so strong and not the typical weak female of the time. However, this time Isolde fell in love with a pair of shoes and Ishraq some earrings when they knew they were meant to be on their guard. They came across as very vain and uninteresting. Ishraq did show her fighting skills and that was good to read but Isolde just came across as a protected spoiled brat and the more I read regarding her the less I liked her.

Considering this is the fourth book in the series the characters are not growing and to be honest have grown stale. I want to see their characters develop and to see them grow intellectually and emotionally and to be honest they almost went backwards in this book. Brother Peter and Freize were the only two who made the book bearable.

Overall the book showed what we already know, nobility in medieval times were horrible, self centred and cared nothing for their people. The treatment of Jews was a surprise for me and the dancing sickness was interesting to read about. However I could read about the Jews’ history and the dancing sickness in a history book and probably find it a great deal more interesting. The characters were severely lacking and quite frankly dull. I doubt I will bother to read the next in the series which is a great shame as the previous three were excellent. My rating was a 2 stars out of 5.

Lady Book Dragon

Review 11: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

About the Author

Neil Gaiman is an English author who writes comics, books, graphic novels, short stories, film and theatre and has won many awards for his work. He was a great reader from an early age and states that JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy was a major influence to him and he read it a great deal as a child. Gaiman started his career as a journalist and his first book was a Duran Duran biography. Gaiman now lives in the United States.

Blurb

Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, is a perfectly normal boy. Apart from the fact that he lives in a graveyard and is being raised and educated by the ghosts, and his guardian belongs to neither the world of the living nor the dead.

There are dangers and adventures for Bod in the graveyard: the strange and terrible menace of the Sleer; a gravestone entrance to a desert that leads to the city of should; friendship with a witch; and so much more.

But it is in the land of the living that the real dangers lurk, for it is there that the man Jack lives and he has already killed Bod’s family.

Review

I was so excited to read this book after reading the short story in Coraline and Other Stories which is the fourth chapter in this book. So on my next bookshop visit I managed to buy a copy of the book. Sadly though I was rather disappointed with the book as a whole.

The book is about the life of Nobody Owens as a child and teenager and the struggles he goes through. Nobody or Bod for short escaped the same fate that his family went through and was protected by the ghosts of the Graveyard he wandered into and his guardian, Silas who is neither in the land of the living or the dead.

Bod is a typical boy growing up, he is full of wonder and the drive to learn however he lacks the fear and trepidation that most people feel because he has seen death is not all that bad. His best friends are ghosts, death holds no fear for him. He has also sampled the powers that the dead have and that the living do not and knows that they are very advantageous.

The first chapter shows how Bod came to the graveyard and I must admit I almost shed a tear when Mrs Owens finds him. The chapter was full of emotion and you can not help but desperately root for Bod, but also wonder how the ghosts of the graveyard will look after the child.

The subsequent chapters show snippets into Bod’s life at about yearly intervals. These chapters I must admit frustrated me as it left me wanting more and the things that were in the chapters were quite often never touched on again or even mentioned. I also wanted to know more about Silas and Miss Lupescu but that was not to be and the reader is left guessing. The character Jack and his kind are only lightly touched upon and this was another disappointment, all the time I wanted to know more details. My favourite chapter still remains The Witch’s Headstone.

The concept of Sleer was brilliant, I really liked the idea of a creature who is unbelievably ancient that nobody even remembers its reason for existence or even that it does exist. Sleer still remembers its purpose though but at the same time is desperate for somebody to become its master again. In a way it is like Bod, Bod wants answers and adventures and Sleer just wants a master a reason for it to still keep protecting.

There were moments in the story that really pulled on my heart strings and almost brought tears to my eyes and I absolutely loved the character of Bod and Mr and Mrs Owens. However I also found myself losing interest in places and that is one of the main reasons for the lower rating. I think reading the fourth chapter first as a short story was a mistake because the rest of the book just did not live up to my expectations.

The edition of the book I read had some beautiful illustrations in by Dave McKean which really added to the story and worked brilliantly in setting the dark mysterious scene of the graveyard. Here is one of my favourites.

A good read for adults and children and I think it would make an excellent film one day.

Just 3 stars out of 5 from me.

Lady Book Dragon

Birthday Treats

For my birthday my wonderful husband bought us both tickets to see The Cursed Child parts 1 & 2 with a one night stay in a very posh hotel.

So this weekend found us both in London at the Palace Theatre.

I remember reading the script as soon as the book came out in 2016 after waiting and waiting for the book to arrive. I will be honest the story was a slight disappointment however the actual play was amazing! On Goodreads I only rated the book as 2 stars, my husband gave the same rating.

I am so pleased the script did not put me off as I would have missed out on an amazing stage production.

The first thing that struck me was the amazing stage effects, how they did all the magic was just wonderful and the choreography that went with it was the icing on the cake. The second part was the music, there was no hint of the music from all the Harry Potter films in it. The music stood on its own and was just stunning, it really helped back and move the storyline forward. The only thing I would say is that sometimes the music was a little on the loud side.

Finally there was the acting. The actors were phenomenal, how they kept their energy up for the two parts was unbelievable. The star of the show in my opinion was the actor who played Scorpius. He was amazingly talented and his energy was electric. I think the actors who played Harry, Ron and Hermione were excellent, as they had hard acts to follow from the three actors we know so well from the films. Ron in particular was my favourite, he was just as fun and as happy as he always was and I am happy that did not change.

All in all I loved the play even though I still can not get used to the storyline, it was an amazing day and I can not recommend it enough.

I also visited a new book store during the gap between the two parts. I went to Foyle’s bookshop and I loved it! Sadly I did not buy anything from there as I did not want to be carrying lots of books in to the theatre but I had a good explore. I really loved the layout so open and brightly lit, and the sheet music selection was incredible! I was completely overwhelmed but I desperately want to go back (another trip to London in the planning I think).

Sunday was a relaxing day exploring The Natural History Museum and I might have bought a T-Rex toy wearing a Christmas jumper because dinosaurs are awesome and even better in Christmas jumpers.

Lady Book Dragon

A Surprise Dragon

So I’ve had another busy weekend, not quite finished yet but I promise I will update you on it all tomorrow. It has a literary theme!

I just had to share with you this lovely surprise in the hotel room.

It’s a Dragon mug! So I had to have a calming peppermint tea and a read of my new Kindle book before bed.

Review 6: Coraline & Other Stories by Neil Gaiman

Coraline and Other Stories by Neil Gaiman

About the Author

Blurb

When Coraline explores her new home, she steps through a door and into another house just like her own – except that things aren’t quite as they seem. There’s another mother and father in this house and they want Coraline to stay with them and be their little girl. Coraline must use all of her wits and every ounce of courage in order to save herself and return home … but will she escape and will life ever be the same again?

Elsewhere in this collection, a sinister jack-in-the-box haunts the lives of all the children who ever owned it, a stray cat does nightly battle to protect his adopted family, and a boy raised in a graveyard confronts the much more troubled world of living. From the scary to the whimsical, the fantastical to the humorous, Coraline and Other Stories is a journey into the dark, magical world of Neil Gaiman.

Review

I have been going through a bit of Neil Gaiman phase just recently so expect a few more book reviews of his work in the near future. Also this is the second book I’ve read in less than a month with a black cat on the front cover. My husband believes a theme is developing.

Coraline

I was very excited to start reading this book, as a few of my family and friends had recommended it to me, and I had managed to avoid the film, so had no idea of the story. However sadly when I started reading it and was 20 pages in a young student of mine, an avid reader herself, saw it on the side and got very excited and told me the entire plot. So sadly the surprise of reading the story was no longer there. That did not stop me thoroughly enjoying it though.

Coraline to me is a little bit like Alice in Wonderland but instead of Coraline falling down a rabbit hole she walks through a mysterious door into a another flat exactly like her own with another mother and father, but who are not her mother and father. This other world seems like great fun to start with, these other parents want to spend time with Coraline and do not seem to be working all the time. However there is something dark and sinister about this other world and Coraline knows it is not right and must fight to save her own reality.

The characters in this book are wonderful: Miss Spink and Miss Forcible the retired actresses who love to regale anybody who will listen about their times on the stage and the crazy old man upstairs who trains mice, but nobody has seen these wonderful mice, who Coraline is wary of. Then of course there is the haughty black cat who hangs around the gardens and Misses Spinks and Forcible’s Highland terriers Hamish, Andrew and Jock. These wonderful animals have parts of their own in the story.

(My haughty black cat)

Coraline is a typical child who just wants to explore and do things, she gets easily bored and as it is school holidays, in a new house and area, she is all alone apart from her parents and neighbours. Coraline loves to be different, but her parents are very ordinary, they both work with computers from home and they work a lot, so Coraline does not get much time with them.

Coraline’s adventure to save her reality is dark and mysterious and leaves you constantly wondering what will happen next. I did not want to put the book down and due to its short length I soon finished the story of Coraline.

On its own I rate this story 5 out of 5 stars.

The Case of the Four and Twenty Blackbirds

This was fantastic! I never would have thought of having my old favourite nursery rhymes turned into an American gangster style private detective film. To start with I must admit I was a little confused and then it all started to make sense and I was hooked. At only 14 pages long this story was soon read with a mug of tea and a biscuit to accompany it.

The whole new take on popular characters like Humpty Dumpty the criminal, Jack Horner the private detective, Cock Robin who sadly died before we got to know him, was amazing and really well thought out.

I loved the atmosphere Gaiman created with this story, I was basically imagining it all as a black and white film and everyone had American accents talking about hooch and dames. I do think it would make a wonderful short film as Gaiman has written it all out already for the film makers.

A truly fantastic read and it made me see my favourite nursery rhymes in a different light. There is no turning back for me now, my nursery rhymes will always be set in American gangster times.

A massive 5 out of 5 stars for this amazing short story.

Troll Bridge

I did not enjoy this story sadly, I found it very depressing and in places annoying. The story is about Jack a 7 year old boy meeting a troll, and subsequently growing up with the knowledge of this troll haunting him.

The thing I did like was the imagery of how Jack’s surroundings were changing, more roads and houses appearing, steam engines disappearing and being replaced by diesel engines and certain railway stations and lines stopping. Each time he returned to the place where the troll’s bridge was the landscape had changed again and Gaiman describes it all in detail, it really makes you feel like you are there.

The first thing I did not like was the description of the troll, it started good but what jolted me out of the narrative was Gaiman’s need to describe the troll’s genitals. I really did not find that necessary and I would not like a child of mine to read that at young age. It just seemed like he was trying to shock the reader and I did not think it was required.

The main thing I did not like was Jack, he was a very selfish character and as he got older he got even worse and with added nasty traits. By the end I was rooting for the troll.

I know this story is all about growing up and rites of passage but it just did not work for me, thankfully the other stories make up for what it is lacking. I would have been very annoyed if I had bought this as a separate book.

A disappointing 1 star out of 5.

Don’t Ask Jack

This is a very short story and in my opinion the scariest so far in the book. The story is about a Jack-in-the-box who lives in a children’s nursery and nobody knows where the toy came from. The parents think it is a lovely little box and like to show it on the shelf but the children like it hidden deep in the toy box.

This was a sinister read for me, probably because a jack-in-the-box is my worst nightmare. This spooky toy has a certain power over the children and they fear it, hence why they hide it and the reader is left wondering what exactly this toy actually does to the children.

I loved this story, a real good one to read at halloween.

4 out of 5 star rating.

How to sell the Ponti Bridge

I found this story rather long winded and a bit on the dull side. It did not really keep my interest and I struggled to read it all the way through. It just did not seem to flow very easily.

The story is basically about the biggest scam that was ever pulled off in the Seven Worlds, a futuristic world in another galaxy. However, it seemed based around 17th and 18th century ideas.

Only 1 star out of 5.

October in the Chair

I really enjoyed this story and I loved the idea of the different months actually being people, whose characters reflect the months’ attributes. The story is about the twelve months meeting up and one month being sat in the chair and nominated to tell a story. The month who is in the chair is October and he tells a very sad and spooky story, just like a ghost story you would tell in October to celebrate halloween.

I just loved the interactions between the months and the jokes they make with each other. October’s story is very sad and moving and also terrifying. It really made me think and want to know what happened in the end, however Gaiman leaves us hanging so we have to make up our own minds as to what happens at the end of October’s story.

A riveting read that I could not put down.

5 out of 5 stars.

Chivalry

The first word I thought of with this is story is adorable, it made me smile and have a little giggle.

Basically the story is about a little old lady called Mrs Whitaker who finds the Holy Grail in a charity shop and buys it because she thinks it will look good on her mantelpiece. And of course there is a knight in shining armour, because what story about the Holy Grail does not have a knight in it?

Mrs Whitaker is a typical widow who goes once a week to collect her pension, meets with her friend, bakes cakes, potters about her garden and tries to be the best person she can be but who is ultimately rather lonely since her husband passed away. Galaad is a knight of the round table who seeks the Holy Grail and turns up on Mrs Whitaker’s doorstep. He is noble, kind, handsome and a perfect gentleman with a noble steed called Grizzel.

I truly enjoyed this story but I also found it a little sad in the end. To begin with I loved the character of Mrs Whitaker and thought she sounded like everybody’s ideal grandmother. Then I loved the idea that you could buy the Holy Grail from a charity shop for 30p and that Mrs Whitaker knew it was the Holy Grail but just wanted it to go on her mantelpiece. The icing on the cake was when Galaad turned up to begin his quest to get the Grail.

This feel good story was magical to read and I am so pleased I read it, however I was a little disappointed with the ending and that has affected my rating.

My overall rating for this story is 4 stars out of 5.

The Price

Now this story upset me greatly, especially as I have a black cat who I would do anything to protect. This story is a short horror story, that shows not to judge people by appearances.

The story is about a black cat who fights every night to protect his adopted family from a great threat. The man who tells the story describes how his family take in strays and look after them and the strays either decide to stay or go on their way. However the black cat turns up and adopts the family but everyday the family notice he has more wounds on him and that he is getting weaker. The man tries to find out what is hurting the black cat and whether he can help.

I am not great with stories about animals that get hurt and so I found this story hard to read and digest but I did find it a good story and I enjoyed the narrative. The fact that this family always goes out of its way to help stray cats and happily pays the vets bills and feeds them and opens their home to them make this family every cat’s dream. So it seems that they deserve a guardian angel as a reward and this angel comes in the form of the black cat. The black cat I like to think has seen all the kindness this family bestows on cats and so decides to adopt them.

Black cats always have a bad press and are considered bad luck and in the UK are always the last cats left in cat shelters. So I love that this story has turned the tables and made a black cat the hero, the knight in shining armour and the good luck charm to the family.

A really good read but a disturbing one for me that made me a little angry.

3 out of 5 stars.

How to Talk to Girls at Parties

The two characters Vic and Enn are typical teenage boys, one who is really good at chatting up girls and his friend who is very shy and awkward around girls, who tries his best but ultimately always sees his friend go off with a girl and is left somewhere at the party with nobody to talk to.

Vic and Enn are heading to a house party of a friend of theirs but when they show up it is clear that it is a different house party and they do not know anybody there. Vic immediately makes himself at home and starts to get along with the prettiest girl there and Enn awkwardly tries to take his friend’s advice and talk to the girls at the party. However as Enn talks to more girls you soon see that something is not entirely right with these girls.

The story is a very stereotypical plot of teenagers full of hormones wanting to drink, party and manage to go upstairs into one of the bedrooms with somebody. I must admit when I started reading it, I thought ‘oh no! Not another of these storylines’ but I should have trusted Gaiman, as he never goes for the ordinary mundane storyline.

It was a good read but I was pleased it was a short story as it was not very engaging for me and left me unimpressed. If it had not been part of the book, I probably would not have read it.

3 stars out 5.

Sunbird

I did enjoy this story even if it was a little predictable, the idea of a club where people gather to eat as many different foods as they can and not care about the consequences on their body is brilliant. This is a club for very greedy people, who do not care if what they seek to eat is endangered or near extinction as long as they get what they want.

The members of the Epicurean Club plan to find and catch a Sunbird to eat it and their planned expedition is very amusing.

The outcome of the story to me was rather obvious, but that did not stop me enjoying the story and having a good chuckle whilst reading it. The best part was I read this story whilst eating my lunch, which I thought fit in rather well.

The characters were well written and all rather amusing, if anything I would have liked the story to be a little longer and the characters to be fleshed out a bit more, but then it would not have been a short story.

A good short story to read whilst on your lunch break. 4 stars out of 5.

The Witch’s Headstone

This has got be my favourite story of the book! I just loved everything about it and I have ordered The Graveyard Book so I can read the whole story as I believe this short story is a chapter from the book.

The character Bod is wonderful, he is so kind and thoughtful and sweet natured, everything you would not expect from a child brought up in graveyard by ghosts. From the moment I started reading this story I was hooked and wanted it to be longer, I wanted to know Bod’s past and future – it was brilliant.

Bod is fascinated by the potter’s field and the reported witch who is buried there and after he accidentally meets her he wants to be her friend and get her a headstone as he finds it unfair that her burial site is not marked or remembered in any way.

An excellent read that finished way too soon.

5 out of 5 stars from me and I hope The Graveyard Book is just as good.

Instructions

Confused! This last story? Or whatever it is had me very confused, yes it is a set of instructions but to what? I got my husband to read it and he said it was almost like instructions for a video game. I would not know anything about this as I was never allowed video games as a child so missed out on that whole thing, apart from the odd game I played at friends’ houses.

It just had me confused and bored and to be honest I skim read it in the end. It was a really disappointing ending to me and I wish the book had finished with The Witch’s Gravestone.

Sad to say but the book ended with 1 star out of 5 for me.

My overall verdict on this book is 4 stars out of 5 because there were a few disappointing stories for me. However it is a great read and one that you can dip into and read a story when you have a few spare minutes.

Thank you for reading my longest review so far on my blog.

I hope you have enjoyed it, please leave me a comment if you would like to discuss the book.

Purchase Links:-

Waterstones

Book Depository

Lady Book Dragon.