caitlyn's review
5.0
This book was adorable! Wait no, that's the wrong thing to say, these characters would hate to be called adorable...hideous, that's better...This book was hideous (and I mean that in a really good way).
The story is set in a land called Nocturnia where all of the characters are your typical scary monsters (vampires, ghosts, skeletons, yetis, the grim reaper, etc). Except, they're not actually scary; they're really kind and friendly. Amelia Fang lives with her rather absent-minded parents, the Count and Countess, in Fang Mansion. Her life is spent looking after her pet pumpkin Squashy (so cute); having adventures with her best friends Florence (a rare breed of Yeti) and Grimaldi (who seems to be a grim reaper for animals); and going to school, where they are taught about the dangerous creatures of the light (fairies, unicorns and so on).
Amelia's mum hosts an annual Barbaric Ball and this year, she is determined to make it the best event ever by inviting the King of Nocturnia and his son, Prince Tangine. However, since the tragic disappearance of the Queen (something to do with fairies...don't ask), the King has secluded himself in his palace and no longer makes public appearances. Amelia thinks the ball is incredibly boring and would love to have another child present to make it more bearable for her. However, after meeting Prince Tangine at school, Amelia starts to realise that he might nor quite be the sort of friend she is hoping for.
This was such a charming and funny read. I whizzed through the book in a few hours and had a smile on my face the whole time. Amelia and her friends are wonderful examples of being brave, even when you feel scared and having total faith and loyalty in the people you care about - if eveyone was like them, we could change the world! Amelia's parents are hilarious and I loved their pet names for each other. The slightly creepy and disgusting aspects of the story were told in such a delightful way that it made me wonder if I might like to try pus-filled profiteroles (on second thoughts, it's still a no!) Along with all the creative, whimsical aspects, this book had an interesting plot that makes me eager to read on and follow Amelia on her other adventures.
I think this book would be perfect for readers aged 6 - 9 (though I loved it and I'm much older than that!)
Content:
References to death of a parent
References to parents being too busy to spend time with their children
The story is set in a land called Nocturnia where all of the characters are your typical scary monsters (vampires, ghosts, skeletons, yetis, the grim reaper, etc). Except, they're not actually scary; they're really kind and friendly. Amelia Fang lives with her rather absent-minded parents, the Count and Countess, in Fang Mansion. Her life is spent looking after her pet pumpkin Squashy (so cute); having adventures with her best friends Florence (a rare breed of Yeti) and Grimaldi (who seems to be a grim reaper for animals); and going to school, where they are taught about the dangerous creatures of the light (fairies, unicorns and so on).
Amelia's mum hosts an annual Barbaric Ball and this year, she is determined to make it the best event ever by inviting the King of Nocturnia and his son, Prince Tangine. However, since the tragic disappearance of the Queen (something to do with fairies...don't ask), the King has secluded himself in his palace and no longer makes public appearances. Amelia thinks the ball is incredibly boring and would love to have another child present to make it more bearable for her. However, after meeting Prince Tangine at school, Amelia starts to realise that he might nor quite be the sort of friend she is hoping for.
This was such a charming and funny read. I whizzed through the book in a few hours and had a smile on my face the whole time. Amelia and her friends are wonderful examples of being brave, even when you feel scared and having total faith and loyalty in the people you care about - if eveyone was like them, we could change the world! Amelia's parents are hilarious and I loved their pet names for each other. The slightly creepy and disgusting aspects of the story were told in such a delightful way that it made me wonder if I might like to try pus-filled profiteroles (on second thoughts, it's still a no!) Along with all the creative, whimsical aspects, this book had an interesting plot that makes me eager to read on and follow Amelia on her other adventures.
I think this book would be perfect for readers aged 6 - 9 (though I loved it and I'm much older than that!)
Content:
References to death of a parent
References to parents being too busy to spend time with their children
nicolemhewitt's review
5.0
This review and many more can be found on my blog: Feed Your Fiction Addiction
In this second book, Amelia and her friends travel into the terrifying (for them) Kingdom of Light on a quest to find a very important missing fairy (I won’t say exactly who because that would be a spoiler for the first book). The story in this second book was a lot more active, so I think I enjoyed it even more than the first. There were lots of fun elements to the Kingdom of Light, and it was hilarious to see Amelia and her friends’ reactions to them (all that sweetness tended to make them sick!). In some parts the story was just plain silly (for instance, Amelia and her Yeti friend disguise themselves as unicorns by basically just sticking horns on their heads, and apparently that’s enough to fool everyone), but this isn’t the type of book you’re supposed to take all that seriously. There was lots of adventure to this installment, and it’s a perfect set-up for future books. I can’t wait to read even more of this series!
***Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was given and all opinions are my own.***
In this second book, Amelia and her friends travel into the terrifying (for them) Kingdom of Light on a quest to find a very important missing fairy (I won’t say exactly who because that would be a spoiler for the first book). The story in this second book was a lot more active, so I think I enjoyed it even more than the first. There were lots of fun elements to the Kingdom of Light, and it was hilarious to see Amelia and her friends’ reactions to them (all that sweetness tended to make them sick!). In some parts the story was just plain silly (for instance, Amelia and her Yeti friend disguise themselves as unicorns by basically just sticking horns on their heads, and apparently that’s enough to fool everyone), but this isn’t the type of book you’re supposed to take all that seriously. There was lots of adventure to this installment, and it’s a perfect set-up for future books. I can’t wait to read even more of this series!
***Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was given and all opinions are my own.***
riotbatgrrl's review
Aw I liked this one a lot more than the first book! It was sweet and it made me giggle a few times. The evil plot was extremely predictable, but that wasn't really a problem for me because I still enjoyed the journey.
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