Friday, July 2, 2010

Review - Seven Sorcerers by Caro King

Seven Sorcerers by Caro King
Bookdepository / Amazon UK
Librarything / Goodreads

Genre: Middle Grade
Pages: 352

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Summary: Nin had never liked Wednesdays, but this one took the biscuit. On this Wednesday she woke up to find that it was raining buckets and that her brother had ceased to exist. Ninevah realises she is the only person to remember Toby because whoever took him is about to make her disappear too.

Enter Skerridge the Bogeyman, who steals kids for Mr. Strood. With his spindle, he draws all memories of Nin out of her mother's head. Nin escapes to the Drift, the world that her new friend Jonas and Mr. Strood inhabit. But the Drift is filled with the fabulous and the dreadful; tombfolk, mudmen, and the spirits of the seven sorcerers who once ruled the land. What is the secret of the Seven Sorcerers, and will Nin and Toby escape their fate at the House of Strood?

Thoughts: I loved this book.  Truly, madly, deeply loved this book.

Seven Sorcerers is that first real Middle-Grade novel I have read since, well, I was in middle grade.  And I am so glad I got such an amazing reintroduction to the MG section of the bookstore!  Seven Sorcerers is filled with rollicking adventure, humorous villains, entertaining sidekicks and some epic I'm-doing-this-out-of-love sacrifice. It kept me entertained for hours - and I was genuinely sad when it ended.

Seven Sorcerers takes a new spin on the magical and mystical.  There are bogeymen and vampires, and all sorts of other nasties.  Our little heroine, Nim, is spunky and full of character - even as her entire life is stolen from her, she still plucks up the courage to try to do something about it.  OK, maybe she's not your average 12-year-old, but with King?  I totally bought it.

When I think about Seven Sorcerers, the only comparison I can come up with is Harry Potter.  Now, I am a big HP fan - so a book has to be pretty damn brilliant for me to compare it to JK Rowling's works!  But both King and Rowling write first-and-foremost about a universe, and then the characters inside it.  And like Rowling, I get the feeling that King knows every last inch of her verse.

I can't wait to get started on the sequel Shadow Spell!  Also, I wanted to give a shout-out to the artist for the novel.  There are some gorgeous illustrations at the start of the book that really set the tone of the novel.  Beautiful work!


Bottom line?  This MG book is one for all ages.  If you are looking for an adventurous novel you can't put down, look no further!

5 comments:

  1. What a fantastic review of a book I have not yet heard of. Being a middle school teacher, I will most certainly be getting this one to read soon. Thanks for putting this on my radar.

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  2. I have seen this book a lot lately. I wasn't going to read it because it was middle grade, but your review changed my mind! Thanks!

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  3. Ohhhh, you've got me chomping at the bit now. I might have to sneak this onto my credit card. (shhh!)

    Your review sounds similar to the one I wrote for Kate Forsyth's The Puzzle Ring last summer. I loved everything about that book even the cover and feel of the pages. I believe that's a MG novel too. If you have not read it yet - you should!!

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  4. The cover is awesome! Thanks for sharing this. It's tough to find really good middle grade books sometimes - especially ones that everyone hasn't already read 100x.

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  5. It sounds awesome - I really thought it might! :D

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