Month: December 2019

Book Review: Over the Moon

~ Beth Mitchell ~ 6 Comments

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Over the Moon by Natalie Lloyd is a hopeful and heart-warming fantasy. Larrabee and I both really liked it.

Dust is a fact of life for twelve-year-old Mallie. It covers the sky in the town of Coal Top and makes everyone feel sad. Gone are the days when weavers used to make cloth out of starlight and the people used to sing and dream of happy things.

All the mountain families are poor, but Mallie’s is poorer than most because her father can no longer work. Although she has only one arm, she scrubs floors for a rich family to keep her little brother out of the mines.

Then, she learns about a chance to make a fortune. Mortimer Good is looking for children to ride winged horses and collect gold dust. Mallie is determined to succeed, but the challenge is even more dangerous than she knows.

This book has plenty of adventure and mystery. I love the world that Lloyd has created, and I especially love the horses, known as Starbirds. And Mallie over the Moon is a heroine who will make you cheer!

 

Book Review: The Dark Lord Clementine

~ Beth Mitchell ~ 6 Comments

ClementineThe Dark Lord Clementine by Sarah Jean Horwitz is a charming and original fantasy for middle grade readers.

Twelve-year-old Clementine Morcerous is the only child of the Dark Lord Elithor. She lives all alone with her father in Castle Brack and spends her days learning dark magic and tending to the fire-breathing chickens and the poison apple orchard on the silent farm.

Then, her father is cursed by the Witch of the Woods. As he grows weaker, more and more tasks fall to Clementine. She has to keep the castle running all by herself, satisfy the Council of Evil Overlords’ Dastardly Deeds quota, and try to save her father’s life. In the process, though, Clementine makes friends for the first time in her life and starts to question whether she even wants to be a Dark Lord.

This story has many of the elements you’d expect in a fantasy, such as witches, knights, villagers, a Lady of the Lake, and a unicorn. And it has unexpected elements too. My favorite is the Gricken, the Morcerous family grimoire that has been transformed into a chicken and lays spells in the form of eggs.

Larrabee and I both recommend it!