A review by ashleylm
Blotto, Twinks, and the Ex-King's Daughter by Simon Brett
4.0
It's a silly book that's not for everyone, but the author is perfectly aware of what he is doing. (Which I'd much rather read than silly books which the author apparently thinks are entirely sensible).
Another intentionally silly series would be Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events and they're quite similar, really. The Snicket series is Daniel Handler's take on the poor beseiged rich orphan gothic novel, and Blotto & Twinks is Brett's take on the rich amateur detective Golden Age cosy mystery, complete with a nook in the library from where you can see and hear everything, but no one can see you--the perfect addition to a house of detectives!
If you weren't sure the entire thing was tongue-in-cheek, even the slowest reader must have figured it out when Blotto, a cricket-playing enthusiast, managed to bat back cannonballs that had been blown out of an actual cannon at him. Hilarious!
One reader has noted that Blotto is witty. He's not. He's much too dense to be witty. He's hilarious to read about, but not because he says smart, funny-on-purpose things.
Twinks is one of those brilliant Sherlock Holmesian detectives who can tell upon meeting you that you're left-handed, had toast for breakfast, and were raised by a Nanny in who was born in Swansea but spent a summer in Marseilles.
In all, it's a rollicking jolly adventure, and I'm very much in the mood for more.
(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s). I feel a lot of readers automatically render any book they enjoy 5, but I grade on a curve!
Another intentionally silly series would be Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events and they're quite similar, really. The Snicket series is Daniel Handler's take on the poor beseiged rich orphan gothic novel, and Blotto & Twinks is Brett's take on the rich amateur detective Golden Age cosy mystery, complete with a nook in the library from where you can see and hear everything, but no one can see you--the perfect addition to a house of detectives!
If you weren't sure the entire thing was tongue-in-cheek, even the slowest reader must have figured it out when Blotto, a cricket-playing enthusiast, managed to bat back cannonballs that had been blown out of an actual cannon at him. Hilarious!
One reader has noted that Blotto is witty. He's not. He's much too dense to be witty. He's hilarious to read about, but not because he says smart, funny-on-purpose things.
Twinks is one of those brilliant Sherlock Holmesian detectives who can tell upon meeting you that you're left-handed, had toast for breakfast, and were raised by a Nanny in who was born in Swansea but spent a summer in Marseilles.
In all, it's a rollicking jolly adventure, and I'm very much in the mood for more.
(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s). I feel a lot of readers automatically render any book they enjoy 5, but I grade on a curve!