Reviews

The Robe of Skulls by Vivian French

mbenzz's review against another edition

4.0

This was a great start to a fun series. It has everything I love about middle-grade fairy tales...witches, Kings and Queens, Princes and Princesses. Heroes, villains, taking bats, and trolls.

The adventures of Gracie Gillypot and company were a great way to spend a few evenings before bed, and I immediately started book two upon finishing this one. I look forward to seeing how the rest of this series plays out.

malolauren's review against another edition

5.0

My 8 year old LOVED this story and can't wait to read the rest of the series. French did a great job of weaving several stories together and giving it just the right amount of silly with spooky.

sraedi's review against another edition

3.0

Remez was reluctant to give this a shot so I read it first and recommended it to her. ; )

amotisse's review against another edition

5.0

Two wonderful evenings spent listening to the audio version of this book with my kids, in the car and at home.
I have been reading to them for 12 years so it was such a treat to experience being read to again!
Lovely quiet, calm and relaxing.

The Robe of Skulls...we loved it.
Fantastical adventure, an array of interesting, curious and likeable characters including an excitable path!
Great descriptive imagery especially Gubble, all brought together by Nigel Planer's reading.

Lots of smiles and laughs for us.
Will be looking for the next in tales of the five kingdoms and using my costume skills to design a robe of skulls!

smitchy's review against another edition

4.0

For fans of The Beast and The Bethany by Jack Meggitt-Phillips, Mort the Meek by Rachel Delahaye or Trilby Moffatt by Kate Temple - a bit dark, a bit silly and lots of fun for a middle grade audience.

the_wicked_witch_of_the_south's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Being a book for kids it will hardly reach a experienced reader that will notice that this one copies elements of Dickens and Cervantes not giving them a credit, I wonder if that is a common thing on children books

emgrbr's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

This was an amazing book.
Had fun reading.

crystal_reading's review against another edition

3.0

Cute little fairy-tale type book with a sorceress, various evil characters, some frog princes, and a few heroes. Quite amusing.

sonshinelibrarian's review against another edition

4.25

When I started this, I was very iffy on it, but I ended up enjoying it quite a bit. I love the bats especially. A fun, slightly dark and twisty fairy tale.

skittyrreads's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Decided to start this series as a nostalgia read- this was always my least favourite in the series as a child and I stand by it. The plot is simple enough and while there is a lot of character and charm I find Gracie to be a little boring and I dislike that her and Marcus are just instantly friends. Other than that it's a decent read, and I find the world to be interesting enough.