Mr Fennelly’s Book Reviews

  🐲🐲🐲🐲🐲🐲🐲🐲🐲🔅  9/10 My daughters received a signed copy of this book via Toppsta.com along with a copy of the first book in the Cursebreaker series. After reading and thoroughly enjoying the first book,  A Curse So Dark and Lonely , I was really looking forward to reading this book and intrigued as to how Brigid Kemmerer would continue the story. After an initially slow start, mainly due to the introduction of some new characters and the new kingdom of Syhl Shallow, it soon recreates the fantastic storytelling of the first book. The stakes are different and the characters adapt greatly due to various circumstances throughout the book, at times you want to hate some that you previously admired and vice versa. I would definitely recommend this book for children and adult alike.

  🐲🐲🐲🐲🐲🐲🐲🐲🔅🔅 8/10 My daughters received a copy of this book via Toppsta.com along with a signed copy of the second book in the Cursebreaker series. I chose to read it too as the blurb sounded intriguing. It is essentially a twist on the tale of Beauty and the Beast set partially in the ‘real world’ but mostly in Brigid Kemmerer’s intriguing fantastical setting, the kingdom of Emberfall. The chapters are all titled with the name of the character whose narrative is used. This cleverly removes any potential confusion as the story switches between the perspectives of the two main characters, Harper and Rhen, enabling them both to show their own point of view in their respective chapters. A fantastic story which I thoroughly enjoyed with a few unexpected twists and an ending that leaves the reader wanting more.

🐲🐲🐲🐲🐲🐲🐲🔅🔅🔅   7/10 I listened to the audiobook version of Clare Weze’s The Lightning Thief, narrated by Oseloka Obi, for free courtesy of NetGalley. I initially chose this to read as the cover artwork by Paddy Donnelly really caught my attention. There are many interesting aspects to this story, ranging from the mysterious weather and equally mysterious Whizzy to entertain, whilst also having serious undertones involving racism, eating disorders, bullying, the justice system and various ways that people are viewed simply for being different. During the story, Alfie’s friendships and familial relationships are tested due to secrets being kept and despite him wanting to do the right thing. I have seen this novel compared to Skellig, which I believe to be an apt comparison, updated for the modern age. A thoroughly enjoyable read and definitely one I’d like to use within my teacher training.