Castle Hangnail by Ursula Vernon

The Blurb On The Back:

Dear Sir or Madam,

The minions of Castle Hangnail seek a new master to overtake all dark and evil duties and responsibilities. Magical abilities are absolutely required*, as is a knack for smiting, blighting, and general malevolent behaviour. An intimidating appearance is a plus!

If interested, please send word via raven to the guardian of Castle Hangnail.

*Except in the case of Mad Scientists

Sincerely
The Minions of Castle Hangnail

When Molly shows up at Castle Hangnail’s doorstep to fill the vacancy for a Wicked Witch, the castle’s minions are suspicious. After all, she is twelve years old, barely five feet tall, and quite … polite. It’s not exactly what they had in mind for wicked. But the castle desperately needs a Master or else the Board of Magic will decommission it, leaving the minions without the home they love.

Molly may not be as spectacularly cruel and devilishly demanding as the castle’s previous Masters, but when she produces some rather impressive magic, the minions feel hopeful she’ll be approved by the Board of Magic. They even start to like her. It turns out, though, that Molly is hiding quite a few secrets, including one that could mean the end of Castle Hangnail.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Ursula Vernon’s self-illustrated humorous fantasy novel for children aged 9+ is an absolute delight from start to finish with a fine cast of characters, sharp humour, a lot of warmth and wonderful illustrations. I absolutely adored the relationship that Molly develops with the guardian (who she names Majordomo) – each of them unsure of the other, each of them with secrets but each devoted to the Castle and the other inhabitants. My favourite scenes are those where Molly takes on a property developer who’s bullying people in a nearby village and has designs on Castle Hangnail but I also loved her interactions with the Minions (Pins and Lord Edward were my favourites, but I also loved the Minotaur cook who tolerates no balderdash and has an aversion to the letter Q) and a scene where she transforms a downtrodden donkey into a dragon had me laughing out loud. Vernon keeps tight control of her plot and the final quarter (where Molly’s deceptions are revealed and a genuine Evil Sorceress challenges her for the Castle) is excellent and I liked the way she draws a distinction between being evil and being wicked and ultimately shows the importance of friendship, loyalty and kindness. I don’t have a bad thing to say about this book and urge you to read it.

Mistletoe And Murder by Robin Stevens

The Blurb On The Back:

”These attacks are not merely pranks or accidents,” said Daisy gravely. “They are intended – and I believe something truly terrible will happen before Christmas Day.”

Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong are spending the Christmas hols in snowy Cambridge. Hazel has high hopes of its beautiful libraries and inviting tea-rooms – but there is danger lurking in the dark stairwells of Maudlin College.

Two days before Christmas, a brutal accident takes place – but the Detective Society suspect murder. Faced with fierce competition from a rival agency, they must use all their cunning and courage to find the killer (in time for Christmas Day, of course).

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

The fifth in Robin Stevens’s bestselling middle grade crime series is another fiendishly plotted murder mystery with the added complication of a love triangle between Wells, Wong and Alexander and the introduction of newcomer George Mukherjee, a British Indian with an intellect and strength of will to match Daisy’s. Stevens shows that female students at Cambridge were treated as second-class citizens (both through having limited funds and because they weren’t entitled to be awarded degrees) and well uses the real secret Cambridge climbing society. I also enjoyed how Stevens develops the wedge put in Wells and Wong’s friendship in JOLLY FOUL PLAY, throwing in Hazel’s crush on Alexander and Alexander’s crush on Daisy to add emotional tension but then introducing the practical and intelligent George who shares many of Hazel’s experiences with racism and has an intellect to match Daisy’s to avoid what could be yet another dull love triangle. In fact Stevens does particularly well at highlighting 1930s racism, including the blatant abuse suffered by Chinese student Alfred Chung at Chummy’s hands and also Daisy and Hazel’s assumptions about George’s ethnicity. The only bum notes are the way a constable is left to investigate the deaths (which I didn’t quite believe) and the fact that the bodies aren’t immediately removed while the reaction to a revelation at the end of the book didn’t quite ring true for the times to me but otherwise I really enjoyed this book and look forward to book 6.

Chasing Embers by James Bennett

The Blurb On The Back:

There’s nothing special about Ben Garston.

Or so he’d have you believe. He won’t tell you, for instance, that he’s also known as RED BEN. Or that the world of myth and legend is more real than you think.

Because it’s his job to keep all that a secret.

But now a centuries-old rivalry has resurfaced, and the delicate balance between his world and ours is about to be shattered.

Something is hiding in the heart of the city – and it’s about to be unleashed.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

James Bennett’s urban fantasy novel (the first in a new series) draws heavily on English folklore and African myth to build a rich fantasy world but it can’t make up for leaden writing, a main character who bumbles from trap to trap without any sense of agency and an underwritten love interest reduced to complaining and being used as bait. My big problem with this book is Ben Garston – a character who’s a dragon should be fascinating but instead Ben’s a melancholic drunk who mopes after his ex-girlfriend Rose McBriar (a student so woefully underwritten that she’s reduced to complaining that he doesn’t tell her the truth and getting captured by the antagonists for their own nefarious purposes). I enjoyed the scenes where Ben is in dragon form because Bennett has clearly put a lot of thought into the biology and mechanics of it all, but the dragon fight scenes (as indeed were the human fight scenes) are slow, leaden affairs and Ben isn’t much of an investigator – essentially lurching from one trap to another with no wit or agency to start putting facts together until they’re practically slapping him in the face. Ben’s sometime ally, the Fay ambassador Blaise Von Hart is part Cabaret MC, part Herr Lipp and the three witches Babe Cathy, Miss Macha ad Nan Nemain have potential as twisted versions of the virgin, whore and crone stereotypes but aren’t given the page time to evolve. The scenes building on African myth and Egyptian legend are interesting but again, stifled by two-dimensional characters. Ultimately there isn’t enough here for me to want to continue with this series, although I would check out Bennett’s other work.