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A review by veronikahvee
Century by Sarah Singleton
4.0
I'm torn between giving it a 4 or a 5 stars rating... I'll give it a 4.5 then.
Century tells the story of Mercy (12 years old), who lives in the old big and dark gothic mansion called Century. Mercy lives there with her sister, Charity, who is 10 years old, and their father, Trajan. There live also Galatea and Aurelia, the governess and the nanny. Mercy has a special "power", she can see ghosts.
They live in an eternal Winter and they always get up after dark, never seeing the sun. Their everyday life is like this until one day Mercy meets Claudius, a stranger that claims to be part of her family and that knows how to bring back the sun.
Mercy realizes the Verga are a very special family and that there's more to this eternal Winter than meets the eye, thus she decides to investigate this mystery, uncovering dark secrets along the way.
Century is brilliantly done. The writing is smooth and adequate for kids, nothing too fancy nor too boring. Singleton's writing manages to continuously give us that gothic romance vibe, with the eternal winter and the ghosts-seeing playing a good part in that.
The plot is well woven, with the mystery always in the air, right from page 1. You can't stop reading because, just like Mercy, you want to know why and how they ended up in this eternal Winter.
Mercy is a likable character. She's smart, she's stubborn, she's determined to uncover the truth and she loves her family very much.
Charity is the younger sister who is very different from Mercy. She's more childish, better student (on the attention and arts departments) and very nosy. But she loves her sister and is tired of Winter, which makes her a great help. Actually, if it wasn't for her, the story might have been very different.
I wish Singleton had written more on the ghost seeing part. We do get an explanation for the ghosts, but it would have been cooler to get more on that part. Don't get me wrong! This is still a ghost story. Just maybe not the kind you were expecting ;)
An excellent read, perfect for anyone from 12 to 102!
Century tells the story of Mercy (12 years old), who lives in the old big and dark gothic mansion called Century. Mercy lives there with her sister, Charity, who is 10 years old, and their father, Trajan. There live also Galatea and Aurelia, the governess and the nanny. Mercy has a special "power", she can see ghosts.
They live in an eternal Winter and they always get up after dark, never seeing the sun. Their everyday life is like this until one day Mercy meets Claudius, a stranger that claims to be part of her family and that knows how to bring back the sun.
Mercy realizes the Verga are a very special family and that there's more to this eternal Winter than meets the eye, thus she decides to investigate this mystery, uncovering dark secrets along the way.
Century is brilliantly done. The writing is smooth and adequate for kids, nothing too fancy nor too boring. Singleton's writing manages to continuously give us that gothic romance vibe, with the eternal winter and the ghosts-seeing playing a good part in that.
The plot is well woven, with the mystery always in the air, right from page 1. You can't stop reading because, just like Mercy, you want to know why and how they ended up in this eternal Winter.
Mercy is a likable character. She's smart, she's stubborn, she's determined to uncover the truth and she loves her family very much.
Charity is the younger sister who is very different from Mercy. She's more childish, better student (on the attention and arts departments) and very nosy. But she loves her sister and is tired of Winter, which makes her a great help. Actually, if it wasn't for her, the story might have been very different.
I wish Singleton had written more on the ghost seeing part. We do get an explanation for the ghosts, but it would have been cooler to get more on that part. Don't get me wrong! This is still a ghost story. Just maybe not the kind you were expecting ;)
An excellent read, perfect for anyone from 12 to 102!