nyllia's review against another edition
3.0
Un recueil de cinq petites nouvelles tournant autour de sorcières du monde de l'Épouvanteur. On y retrouve des personnages connus dans des aventures inédites ou des approfondissement de certaines histoires. J'ai bien aimé celle sur John Gregory et elle de Grimalkin, les deux étant un peu tristes mais intéressantes.
awexis's review against another edition
4.0
Grimalkin's Story is pretty good! I liked her story a lot. She's a kick-ass character, that's for sure! She wants to kill the Fiend, or at least take revenge for what he did to their son. Poor, Grimalkin.
In any case...
In any case...
mackle13's review against another edition
3.0
A collection of short stories, we see a glimpse into the different lives and backstories of some of the characters including Alice and the Spook - specifically Alice's earliest days with Lizzy and a story from the story of how the Spook met Meg. We also get a story from a witch's perspective, and one from Tom during his time with Bill Arkwright - though where that fits into the novel version of his time with Bill, chronologically speaking, isn't entirely clear.
Anyway - the stories were interesting, especially Alice's and the Spook's - but they didn't have the slow build up of creepiness and dread the full-length novels have, probably just because the length didn't lend itself to it.
But I did like seeing things told from perspective's aside from Tom's - and I did feel that Delaney managed to capture fairly well the different voices of the characters within their particular stories.
(Considering that one of my main complaints of the series has been that while Tom has gone from 11 to 15, the writing and maturity level have stagnated. I was getting concerned that the author couldn't bring more to the table, but now I have hope that maybe he can.)
But, anyway, don't look for anything here which progresses the story going on in the series in any way. This is all back-story and history - interesting for what it is, but a side-dish to the over-arching plot.
p.s. There are some spoilery things in this collection for previous stories, so I would definitely recommend reading it after Book 6.
Anyway - the stories were interesting, especially Alice's and the Spook's - but they didn't have the slow build up of creepiness and dread the full-length novels have, probably just because the length didn't lend itself to it.
But I did like seeing things told from perspective's aside from Tom's - and I did feel that Delaney managed to capture fairly well the different voices of the characters within their particular stories.
(Considering that one of my main complaints of the series has been that while Tom has gone from 11 to 15, the writing and maturity level have stagnated. I was getting concerned that the author couldn't bring more to the table, but now I have hope that maybe he can.)
But, anyway, don't look for anything here which progresses the story going on in the series in any way. This is all back-story and history - interesting for what it is, but a side-dish to the over-arching plot.
p.s. There are some spoilery things in this collection for previous stories, so I would definitely recommend reading it after Book 6.
_michelle_'s review against another edition
5.0
A nice compliment to the main series. I really liked Alice's story and how she delt with Bony Lizzie's little creep of a familiar!
ryanxvx's review against another edition
3.0
This collection of short stories fills in some gaps in the overall storyline. Decent storytelling but another unnecessary cash grab.
bugfriend's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
juso's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
charlottejones952's review
3.0
Joseph Delaney has a writing style that completely draws you in to each story and although, like in most short story collections that I have read, some stories are better than others, each one is action-packed and is so engrained in the world of spooks that the author has created that you get sucked into each one.
This collection of five stories can be read separate from the main series and would still make complete sense, as it did for me.
Each story was written from a different character's perspective and I feel like Joseph Delaney did a great job of giving each one a distinct and different voice.
Although this series is technically classed as middlegrade, I found that Delaney did not shy away from some of the more gruesome scenes. It certainly couldn't be classed as gore but it was a little more realistic and intriguing.
After reading this short story collection I am really interested in checking out more of the books in the Wardstone Chronicles and I would definitely recommend this collection if you like middlegrade.
This collection of five stories can be read separate from the main series and would still make complete sense, as it did for me.
Each story was written from a different character's perspective and I feel like Joseph Delaney did a great job of giving each one a distinct and different voice.
Although this series is technically classed as middlegrade, I found that Delaney did not shy away from some of the more gruesome scenes. It certainly couldn't be classed as gore but it was a little more realistic and intriguing.
After reading this short story collection I am really interested in checking out more of the books in the Wardstone Chronicles and I would definitely recommend this collection if you like middlegrade.