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3.97 AVERAGE
3.97 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Exciting, mysterious, and well written. A little too much murder and bloodshed for me, especially at the end. But I enjoyed the story!
Adventure, magic and explosions. It had me turning page after page late into the night.
Kevin Sands’ Blackthorn Key is well written. Period. I would share it in a heartbeat, and it's a quick and easy read.
Christopher was an orphan in the busy London of the mid 1600’s. Taken as an apothecary’s apprentice at eleven, he’s bonded to his master. What’s more, he’s good at learning the trade. There’s a murderer about, and he stalks apothecaries. The rest you’ll have to read.
It’s been a long time since a book’s impressed me this much. Christopher and Tom are likeable, and the sensations of London come across palpably. Kevin Sands’ solid writing, the good editing, the accurate historical setting, the puzzles without making reading difficult, all of it adds together to make a great book for the 4-7th grade readers.
The only reservation that I have about it is the inclusion of a particular cult that along with some of the history wouldn’t make sense (it’s a very specific year in England’s history) to a young reader. A second concern is the deaths that start the mystery are pretty grim, though off-screen.
~review based on an ARC
Christopher was an orphan in the busy London of the mid 1600’s. Taken as an apothecary’s apprentice at eleven, he’s bonded to his master. What’s more, he’s good at learning the trade. There’s a murderer about, and he stalks apothecaries. The rest you’ll have to read.
It’s been a long time since a book’s impressed me this much. Christopher and Tom are likeable, and the sensations of London come across palpably. Kevin Sands’ solid writing, the good editing, the accurate historical setting, the puzzles without making reading difficult, all of it adds together to make a great book for the 4-7th grade readers.
The only reservation that I have about it is the inclusion of a particular cult that along with some of the history wouldn’t make sense (it’s a very specific year in England’s history) to a young reader. A second concern is the deaths that start the mystery are pretty grim, though off-screen.
~review based on an ARC
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I listened to the audiobook version of this, and I enjoyed it quite a bit! I've had this on my list for a long time, so I'm glad I finally made time to read it. I loved the mysteries in the story, although I think for those in particular, it might have been better to read a physical copy of the book. It was hard to decipher listening to the narrator reading off random letters in the clues. Other than that, I enjoyed the narration and am looking forward to listening to the next book in the series......
Absolutely phenomenal debut! Intense, gripping and yet knows how to wrench your heart out. Written cleverly so easy to enjoy even for older readers. There are certain scenes where the book doesn't really hold back on pain, torture, suffering, or murder which had me going, "are we sure this book shouldn't be listed as for 'teens' instead of '9-12'?" But for me personally it was refreshing to read something that didn't skirt around the topics for once. Thoroughly enjoyable.
This book says it is for 10 to 14 year olds, so it kind of crosses over from middle grade to YA. There are parts that are particularly violent, but nothing too offensive for an older child. I'm just not a fan of violence, so I was a bit more sensitive. I read that he is working on a sequel, but I have to say I appreciate that the story wasn't written to leave us hanging.
Captivating mystery that we listened to on a car trip. The reader (British guy...don't remember his name) was amazing!
This is one of my favorite book series of all time. I loved the mix of fantasy that is actually just science. The characters are so lovable and interesting. The imagery is so good I could almost smell the dirty streets and saltpeter.