Julie Pike - The Last Spell Breather - Book Review - Mr. Ripley's Enchanted Books

This is a review of the debut book from superstar Julie Pike. The Last Spell Breather will be published this July 2019 by the lovely Oxford University Press. The beautiful book cover has been illustrated by Dinara Mirtalipova. (I hope I've spelled that right?) It is absolutely stunning and will certainly attract many potential readers. This is a book that I've been looking forward to reading for some time now as it sounded magical. However, the proof is in the reading. As I hold my breath and turn the first page - what will I discover?

After the first chapter, the narrative slowly distills into a story full of spells and unique charm. Rayne and her best friend (Tom) lead you into a story packed with sparkling fantasy adventure. Every page of the book is effortlessly enjoyable. It is very easy to get lost in a magical realm that packs such a fantasy punch. It's a place that you'll just want to explore more and more, especially the GREAT LIBRARY. The imagination and the ideas used in this book are fantastic. Whilst, the magic system feels and is totally original - I loved the concept as it certainly drives the heart of the plot. However, I feel this could have been used more by extending the story to give it greater impact. 

This is a book where you can escape into an immersive world for all of the family. There is a lot for the reader to enjoy including fantastic characters and monsters: a talking fox and the very bizarre fish people. However, my personal favourites were the GROTESQUES with their bushy eyebrows which were brilliantly written and very amusing. There are also bouts of warm humour, smugness and a sparkling friendship full of bickering and falling out which slowly builds throughout the story. 

The more you read this story, the more the mystery unfolds. It nicely builds-up the tension with an increasing sense of danger and peril. Finally culminating with some heart-stopping, nightmarish moments that I'm sure will make you run for cover. When the last page is eventually turned and the final breath expelled, the magical fantasy encapsulates the reader forevermore. The positive ending will certainly make you want to join the characters and setting once more in another adventure. It would be lovely to see some illustrations in the next book - I feel these would really make the reading experience particularly special. A fantastic new fantasy voice in children's literature.  

Spell Breathing does not come naturally to Rayne – she loathes the hours of practice, the stacks of scrolls, and the snapping mud devils that cover her mother's precious spell book.

But it is spell breathing that keeps her village safe from the dreaded monster curse that plagues their world. It is ancient powerful magic, but as Rayne learns to her horror . . . it is also fragile.
In one clumsy move, the magic that keeps them safe is broken, her village is plunged into danger, and an incredible adventure begins . . .

S. A. Patrick - A Darkness of Dragons - Book Review - Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books

After playing a forbidden spell-song to save a village from rats, 12-year-old piper Patch Brightwater is thrown in jail. But there he meets Wren – a noble girl under a rat-shaped curse – and together they befriend Barver, a fearsome dracogriff, and set off on a grand adventure filled with sorcerers, dragons, bandits…and one very deadly enemy.

From the depths of the Tiviscan dungeons to the highest peak of Gemspar Mountain, this stunning book reminds us of the soaring joy of adventure, the captivating danger of magic, and of the delight of finding friends in unexpected places.

Since the middle ages, the story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin has been passed down from generation to generation. The story originated from the days of the plague and has possibly changed in many ways since then. S. A. Patrick has based his story on the world of the Pied Piper and weaved a magical inventive story that incorporates the basic essence of that original idea. He has made it into a new modern-day fairy tale that will be loved by many for years to come. 

A Darkness of Dragons will be Seth's first book for children. It is set to be published on the 6th September 2018 by Usborne Publishing. The book is around 400 pages and is a substantial read. However, the very start of the plot has the power to place the reader in an adventure that will leave them gripped and hooked incredibly quickly. "The screams of the children brought the villagers running" and the readers too. 

The first character to love is Patch; the story really starts with this character. Without spoiling anything too much, he joins up with two more major characters. There is Wren, a girl cursed to live as a rat, and big bold Barver, a fire-breathing Dracogriff. All three characters in the book have personal journeys that they undertake but they all, inadvertently, link together. As a result, the three accidental heroes take us on an epic journey captivating our fantasy hearts as they go up against one epic villain.

The story is deeply immersive and has all the magical ingredients that I look for in a great book. A fantastic fantasy plot that pops and pings full of action as well as humour and heart, especially from the characters. It has a very pacey storyline full of creative imagination including spell-slinging, shape-shifting and fire-breathing battles. The split narratives will keep the readers on their toes. It has a lovely dark edge to it that slowly creeps into your soul - often slapping you in the face with horror like moments that will thrill and excite the reader in more ways than one. 

This is set to be a great new series for readers age 9 and upwards. With the next installment eagerly expected around mid-2019. So why not take up the quest by picking up the book and reading it. You will not be disappointed as it is full of twists and turns with a cracking climatic and up-lifting ending that will make you want more.

Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books: JAMES NICOL - THE APPRENTICE WITCH - BOOK INTERVIEW (Chicken House)

      Tell us about your self?

Oh golly - thats a bit like a job interview isn’t it! Well when I’m not busy writing I spend the rest of my time surrounded by books in libraries across Cambridgeshire (and they pay me to do that!)  or walking my dog. I really don’t have much more time for anything else besides that at the moment. Also I’m quite tall and I have curly hair. I’m terrible at spelling, I love tea. My favourite colour is blue and I wanted to be a dalmatian when i was about 8 years old! (after reading 101 Dalmatians by Dodie Smith)

Who would love reading The Apprentice Witch, and why?

I really hope everyone will love The Apprentice Witch, even though I wrote it just for children it’s quite alright for some grown ups to want to read it as well I think. 

I really wanted to write a book full of magic and characters that have fun adventures and do brave things even when they are scared. Those were the types of books I loved as a child, like the Narnia books. Reading about other children being brave made me feel braver - as i was a terrible scaredy cat as a child (and i still am a little bit  - especially if it involves siders!!!) 

I hope readers will fall in love with the world and with the cast of characters that are in the book. I hope its a place readers will want to escape to - even with the scary bits!

Describe the dreary town of Lull from a witches eye?

Lull looks like its going to be quite dull and boring at first glance, despite its closeness to the Great Wood which is full of wondrous magical creatures. Very few people ever go beyond the edge of the wood and so Lull just sort of gets on with being a bit sleepy and quiet and tucked out of the way. It doesn’t look like its going to be much excitement for an eager young witch! But we all know appearances can be deceptive . . .

We all need a hero! Tell us about your protagonist(s)? 

Well the main hero is Arianwyn Gribble who is a young witch. She’s quite ambitious and has only ever wanted to be a witch like her mother and her grandmother. But she has a terrible secret that she can’t share with anyone and at the very beginning of the book this secret sets off a chain of events that leads her on a slightly different path than the one she imagined for herself. She’s a kind and thoughtful person, but she has a set back and that knocks her confidence quite a lot. She has to use her skill as well as her own personal reserves and nature to overcome everything that is thrown at her. 

What did you learn from writing your debut book that will help you to write future books?

That it’s easier (for me!) to write my very first draft in long hand with a pencil in lots of notebooks! 

I would just sit and stare blankly at the computer screen for ages, type a line then delete it. (then cry a bit)  But actually physically writing it all down felt much easier in a way and I knew nobody was ever going to read the notebooks and I don’t edit what I write there it's just to tell the bare basics of the story. 

Also its good to have a plan rather than to stumble about aimlessly - I thought a plan would make it too rigid and not leave space for creativity but I got into such a muddle without a plan! So an outline is good to have and find whatever works for you to get the first draft down - hand-written or typed it doesn’t really matter - just write! 

How important are stories to you? What do you like to read?

So important - I’ve been in love with stories forever. I was a bit of a reluctant reader as a young child but I could see the potential of all the stories in the school library and I wanted to be part of that. I love the way you can become totally lost in stories to the point it becomes physically impossible to put the book down. 

I love reading fiction mainly but I also enjoy biography and memoir - anything thats a really interesting tale really. I’m a massive Emma Carroll fan and I am rationing myself on her books at the moment as I’m tempted to just read them all in one go! I really enjoyed the Jonathan Stroud ‘Lockwood & Co’  series - just brilliant! And I’m currently reading The Girl of Ink & Stars by fellow chicken house author Kiran Millwood Hargrave. I am also a massive Alice Hoffman fan and love her books for adults, teens and children, she’s an amazing writer. 

What made you want to start writing, not just reading?

I think it’s the ultimate game of make believe isn’t it? As the story teller you are entirely in control of the world you are creating, you speak the words of the characters, you decide what the sky looks like and which way the wind blows and that has always appealed to me as someone with possibly to much imagination for my own good! Writing was a way to carry on being allowed to play long past the point where we have abandoned our toys and are supposed to do grown up things - which quite frankly are horrendously tedious most of the time! ;) 

Do you have a mentor for writing, and if so, how did you get that mentor?

I did have a mentor when I was working with The Golden Egg Academy and it was Bella Pearson from David Fickling Books. Bella was amazing and she just immediately got my story and me and was so clever in the way she worked with me, asking lots of questions - never telling me what to do or how to fix something so that it all came from me as a writer. She is amazing. Of course now I get to work with an awesome team of editors at Chicken House as well and that’s just an incredible experience as well. Editors are the best! 

If you found a time travel machine where would you go and what would you do?

I don’t think i’d want to go too far back as I’d be worried I’d get sat on by a dinosaur or catch the plague or something daft like that. I’d like to go back to the time my Great Grandfather was alive and find out more about him as he was a bit of an enigma! 

Last question, what five things would you take on a desert Island and why?

Pencils and notebooks, a never ending supply of midget gems, my dog (Bonnie!)  and a copy of Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier as I could read that book a million times and never grow tired of it. 

The Apprentice Witch by James Nicol is a debut children’s fantasy novel full of adventure, mystery, magic and witches. Here is Mr Ripley's Book Review Here. 

 Published by Chicken House on 7th July 2016.

You can also find out more about James and his debut book on his website: 

http://www.jamesnicolbooks.com

 and you can follow him on twitter: @jamesENicol

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed this brilliant post!

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Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books: James Nicol - The Apprentice Witch - Book Review

Arianwyn fluffs her witch's assessment. Awarded the dull bronze disc of an apprentice - to the glee of her arch-rival, Gimma - she's sent to protect the remote, dreary town of Lull. But her new life is far from boring. Turns out Gimma is the pompous mayor's favourite niece - and worse, she opens a magical rift in the nearby forest. As Arianwyn struggles with her spells, it's soon clear there's much more than her pride at stake ...

Are you ready for a magical broomstick ride? If so, let's do a loop-de-loop with a cackle of laughter in pursuit of a cracking debut book by James Nicol. The Apprentice Witch has fully fledged into a printed version, with a quick flick of the wand and a magical spell or two. It is clucking into the published world through the mighty Chicken House from early July 2016.  The plot will certainly seek out and enchant readers from the age of 8 to 108 - " OH YES it will". Now you're thinking 108 years old, but witches do live that long. I know there is one at the bottom of my garden and she loves to read books. 

With odds stacked against her, apprentice witch Arianwyn Gribble must overcome a shaky start as she looks upon a poster declaring 'Your country needs you! Join up today!' In this story, you will fly through a small world in a barrage of fantasy gold that is packed with elegance and nostalgic charm. It's a very engrossing tale that follows fifteen year old trainee witch Arianwyn. A witch who is very lovable, but hides a deep dark secret. 

In the world of legend, witches use a set of five magical symbols, called glyphs, to control the natural flow of magic in the world. But Arianwyn Gribble has worst luck than most as she has seen a sixth glyph for as long as she can remember. A glyph that has always heralded trouble and darkness, like the death of her mother.  This brings a rather large slice of edginess and a darker side to the story. 

You will love the action and drama of this feel good read. Arianwyn's spells and magic don't always work and, therefore, the story tackles self-esteem issues. The main character deals with this in a sensitive and a realistic way. It's a really heart warming read as Arianwyn tries to overcome failure.  

Arianwyn is posted to the obscure village of Lull, which is full of evil monsters and magical dark creatures that lurk around every corner. The monsters/creatures are very inventive, in fact some of them made me chuckle whilst others made me shiver. Where did the ideas came from? Are they the author's nightmares/dreams or from his vivacious appetite for reading, who knows? Either way, they really lift the story and make it a fantastic and classic reading experience. 

The ending of the book is thrilling. It delivers mystery and action in a whirlwind of cinematic, magical adventure which is all fuelled by adrenaline, friendship and bravery. Finally, it all climaxes in a brilliant and vivid ending. I suddenly realised I had come to the last very page, which to me is a very good sign that I have read a great book....  

This is a cracking start to a new series with many more books to look forward.

Read the first chapter here.
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Rachel Hawkins - Hex Hall - Book Review

Mr Ripley's Book Review

Are you a practicing Witch, Faerie or Vampire? Do you love a book that casts a spell on the reader? If you've answered yes to any of these questions, then this may well be the book for you. As a shapeshifter myself I like to morph into a good book and, I have to say I definitely found one here. The quicker I read a book, the greater the sign that I am enjoying it; this took less then five hours in one sitting! 

The magical experience of all the characters was a joy to read. I loved the story and was extremely surprised about it, to tell the truth. You' ve no idea where the book is going to take you but it definitely has a blockbuster feel, as well as a feeling of being fresh and not like a book you may have read before.

The plot was particularly good and the relationships between the characters worked well. The angst and romantic nature was not too over the top; making it more appealing to both boys and girls.

The story is set around the shabby outward looking school of Hecate Hall. The reform school is for wayward 'Prodigium,' who have been attracting too much human attention.

This is going to be a real hit next year with readers; it's fun, witty and very uber-cool. It has great twists and turns with a climatic ending which will enhance the enthusiasm for the next book in the series. This is currently known as 'Hexy Times' but could be subject to change prior to publication.

I am going to give four out of five, as I need to know more about the history and the events which connect the story. A fine debut book and a great new series - one which I believe will catch the eye of film makers. The only downside to the book is its front cover, which I feel is not appealing enough for boys. I'd be interested to know whether other people feel the same.

Book published by Hyperion Books in the U.S  March 2010 

Book Synopsis Three years ago, Sophie Mercer discovered that she was a witch. It's gotten her into a few scrapes. Her non-gifted mother has been as supportive as possible, consulting Sophie's estranged father--an elusive European warlock--only when necessary. But when Sophie attracts too much human attention for a prom-night spell gone horribly wrong, it's her dad who decides her punishment: exile to Hex Hall, an isolated reform school for wayward Prodigium, a.k.a. witches, faeries, and shapeshifters.

By the end of her first day among fellow freak-teens, Sophie has quite a scorecard: three powerful enemies who look like supermodels, a futile crush on a gorgeous warlock, a creepy tagalong ghost, and a new roommate who happens to be the most hated person and only vampire on campus. Worse, Sophie soon learns that a mysterious predator has been attacking students, and her only friend is the number-one suspect.
As a series of blood-curdling mysteries starts to converge, Sophie prepares for the biggest threat of all: an ancient secret society determined to destroy all Prodigium, especially her.

Martin Howard & Colin Simpson - The Wickedest Witch - Book Review

Mr Ripley Say's......... I've just left the witches coven on my magic broomstick clutching a copy of The Wickedest Witch. I've just finished a loop-the-loop and finally dismounted; now I'm ready to write my book review.  The story follows Esmelia and the newly apprenticed witch Sam, who become embroiled in a wicked adventure, to be the Most Superior High and Wicked Witch. There are many witch-battling encounters throughout the story which add to the magical experience. The narrative blends humour into the story line creating many memorable funny moments which develop the personalities of the characters. This is a great read for both young and old that could be a fabulous Christmas reading treat. The book casts a spell over the reader as turning each page you find that you have been turned into a frog!   I became really engrossed in this book; loving every page. I would love the opportunity to read more books like this; light-hearted, funny and magical but still very entertaining. This book is beautifully illustrated by the amazingly talented Colin Stimpson, which I feel really enhances the book's character and allure.  I give this book four out of five - how long until the next installment? Book Synopsis The headline in The Cackler is grim. Old Biddy Vicious, the Most Superior High and Wicked Witch and owner of the Black Wand of Ohh Please Don't Turn Me Into Aaaaarghhh - Ribbett is dead. But witches like their news on the dark side and there is great anticipation in the witching world. After all, there will need to be a new leader and a diabolical competition to find out who is to become the new Most Superior High and Wicked Witch. Esmeila Sniff fancies her chances, after all she is exceedingly wicked and has warts in all of the right places. As she and her surprisingly cheerful apprentice, Sam, set off to find three other witches to nominate her for the job, the meanest and the baddest witches in the world are hatching their own devious plan to become "The Wickedest Witch". Also check out the authors web page for more details,and how to buy a copy.www.witchesatwar.co.uk